Star Crossed
by PheonixTourmaline
Summary: "...send me royalty." She wasn't too old to wish upon a star just yet. A level-headed but slighty insecure doughnut shop employee unwittingly captures the attention of a curious visitor from beyond the stars. Neither thought of themselves as the type to find solstice in a stranger. Neither expected to fall in love. A Steven Universe style fairytale.
1. Chapter 1

_The Reluctant Flight_

The Eclipse Congregation was due to commence in less than a single cycle.  
Time was not on her side.

"Can you please not stand so close to me? You're projecting a shadow on to the screen…"  
"Ah…of course, I apologise…"

She watched the Peridot intently, with mounting, feverish agitation.  
The much smaller gem's brow line would occasionally twitch and furrow before returning to the same, unamused, complacent plane as she surveyed the data before her.

The co-ordinates across the screen danced in an almost beauteous _corps de ballet_ , reflected by the visor of her verdant companion. Every now and then, the Peridot would make a noise as though she was being prodded uncomfortably.

It wasn't long before Kimberlite's patience broke entirely.

"You can do it, can you not?"

She kept her voice low; the chamber may have been outwardly private but the metamorphic gem was not as naïve as others may have painted her.  
She knew that surveillance was never far.  
Carrying out this conversation in her own quarters was risky enough but she had few other options.

"Mmph."

She also knew that approaching one of her Diamond's Peridots was also a notable risk but one that she desperately needed to take. Her window of opportunity was small.  
Small but definite.

Kimberlite dared herself to lean a little closer to the rather skirmish engineer, murmuring silent prayers to the stars above her that the Peridot wasn't already contemplating sending a message straight to the domestic command.  
The taller of the two wasn't very adept at reading code but she could tell that the Peridot had loaded quite a bit more than just the initial co-ordinates on to her screen.

It wasn't long before she was prompted to speak again.

"It would only be for a single visit. Just once. Just to see if-…"

"Pardon my asking," the Peridot suddenly cut across her, eyes lifting momentarily from the screen. "But you stated your original mission objective was one of…" Her eyes briefly flicked back to the data before returning to Kimberlite's own gaze. " _Observation._ Why this particular planet?"

"Just to see one of our non-domestic colonies. I feel it would be beneficial…"

"These co-ordinates do not indicate a colonised or even remotely _occupied_ planet." The Peridot sighed, massaging the bridge beneath her nose and her visor. "In fact, specifically speaking, this planet is a _failed_ colony. So again I ask, why this particular planet?"

The heighty gem hesitated for a moment before replying, crouching down so that she was at eye-level with the Peridot.  
"I…I need to see if the rumours are true. I need to see if the Earth really is as the murmurs suggest…I need to see if it changes gems…"

"My Kimberlite," the Peridot sighed, slightly condescending as she lifted a hand to mindfully polish the Blue Diamond emblem, proudly adorning the most southerly incline of her uniform's pristine collar. "I can assure you that whatever slurs from the labour class drivel that have managed to trickle through these walls, are far from any kind of reliable fact. Now, it is my personal recommendation that you forget about-…"

"I can't!" Kimberlite interjected suddenly, surprised at her own volume and quickly forcing herself back into hushed speech. "I…I can't stop thinking about it. Peridot, I may be naïve by your standards- ignorant perhaps- but I am more than perceptive enough to know that there is truth to all of the stories. Even if there is no gem life on the planet Earth following the war, I need to see the war's aftermath. If I am truly carrying part of the future of our race then I need to know the depths of our race's history and what values I am expected to uphold…"

The Peridot gave her a withering look from behind her visor, folding her arms. "We have mission logs, archival diaries, simulations…plenty of perfectly good learning apparatus for you to-…"

"It would not be the same. You know that. I know that. _Please_ Peridot. This trip would not take longer than a mere demi-cycle. No one would even know that we were gone. We could be there and back before the next court congregation…"

"Absolutely not," Peridot hissed in response, her eyes narrowing. "Your little designs on this hunk of organic wasteland evoked my curiosity but an unplanned mission to largely uncharted starmap? Without my Diamond's knowledge? Not a chance. Do you have any idea of the kind of trouble that I would be in were we to be caught?" The Peridot's eyes widened slightly at this rhetorical question, as though this prospect had only now just dawned on her.

"You could claim that I placed you under duress," Kimberlite suggested, partially stunned by her own desperation as she added: "By a technicality, you work for me as much as you work for Blue Diamond. If I were to issue this as a command…?"

The implication hung in the air for a moment before the Peridot responded dryly.

"For a gem who supposedly "more than perceptive", you seem to be a little confused regarding the directed chain of command within my Diamond's sector. I am not one of the Pearls that cleans your chamber, the Jaspers that stand outside your door or that little Tourmaline that administers your mineral injections. I may be beneath your stations but you have no authority to issue any orders to me that I should be expected to follow."  
She seemed to be unable to restrain even the slightest of smug smiles.

Kimberlite felt a sinking feeling overtake her and even though she knew appealing to the Peridot's more empathetic side was more than likely in vain, she found herself murmuring: "I am not permitted to leave this temple unless it is at Blue Diamond's side. I have lived my years watching the world from behind a veil and through a screen. This could be my one chance to experience something real. Would you deny me that one chance?"

The Peridot abruptly turned off the screen she'd been examining.  
"In a word? Yes. Now, if you have no real faults in your communication systems that need seeing to, I'll be on my way…"

She replaced her limb enhancers, rising from her perch at the control panel and making preparations to leave.  
Kimberlite watched her with mounting anxiety: this was her last chance.  
She did not like to think of herself as a malicious gem in any capacity but pure desperation was coercing her to be harsher than usual.

"Peridot, if you refuse to escort me to Earth, I will be forced to take drastic action…"

"Is that so?" the Peridot responded coolly, flexing her hovering digits without so much as giving a second glance to the Kimberlite beside her.

"You may work for Blue Diamond and not for me, that much is true. But if I were to try to get to Earth alone and I were to get hurt…whom do you think the blame would fall to but the Peridot who put the idea in my head?"

The Peridot's head suddenly whipped around, her eyes narrowed. "I did no such thing."

"And that would be your word against mine." Kimberlite sighed, not liking what she was being pushed into doing but feeling the weight of having no other option in sight. "You know as well as I do that our Diamond would believe me, long before she would believe you."

"You…you wouldn't _do_ something like that…you…you couldn't…!"  
Now she had the Peridot's attention. The smaller gem's uncaring demeanour seemed to have completely deteriorated.  
Kimberlite felt guilty admitting it but there was something rather satisfying about seeing a Peridot so flustered and uncertain.

" _Please_ Peridot," she continued to beseech the gem, daring to place her hand on the Peridot's shoulder. "This could be my only chance to leave the temple…it would not be for long, the Diamonds would be at the Congregation and with the Eclipse, no one would be able to detect a ship entering or exiting the atmosphere…"

The Peridot vigorously shrugged Kimberlite's hand away. "I can maybe understand wanting a change of scenery but you want to go to _Earth_! For your first trip… _anywhere_? What in the stars is possessing you to think this is a good idea!?"

Unable to properly verbalise her desires, the taller gem could only shake her head voicelessly before managing to repeat in a soft, waning voice: "Please, Peridot…I wouldn't trust anyone else to help me with this…"

"Well it's not as if I have much of a choice anymore, is it?" the Peridot hissed in annoyance, bringing back up the screen co-ordinates she'd been looking at, this time using her hand console. "If you're really intent on pulling off this farcical endeavour, we'll need to start prepping a ship immediately."

"Thank you so much, Peridot!" Kimberlite gushed breathlessly, abandoning her own composure to double over in a clumsy bow. "Thank you, thank you, thank you…an aeon's worth of thank yous! I promise to make this worth your while when we return. Anything that I can possibly provide you with is yours! And should we be caught, I will openly take all of the blame!"

"I would expect nothing less," the green gem responded woodenly, beckoning to the grey-skinned gem to follow her as she started off one of the main corridors. "Bribery _following_ blackmail? If I didn't know any better, Kimberlite, I'd say this is the first time you'd ever done this…"

The taller gem did not respond, shivering a little and still hoping that the Peridot didn't plan on immediately alerting the nearest higher authority of their plans.  
Then again, what she had said was completely true; she had never given Blue Diamond any reason to doubt her and due to her stature, it was unlikely that her dear Diamond ever would.  
That said, however, this was not a situation that she wanted to see an innocent gem getting shattered because of.

The worst thing that Blue Diamond would ever do to her would be to deny her archive privileges or deny her access to the rest of the temple for a few orbits.  
The worst thing Blue Diamond was capable of doing was not worth thinking about.

Perhaps this entire pursuit was selfish, Kimberlite would later reflect, gazing out at the rows and clusters of stars as they passed by in a small, commandeered flying vessel.

She had only ever witnessed a single execution before in her entire existence and despite the raucous claims of her Jaspers that it was "exciting to see someone get what was coming to her" or the haughty remarks of her Pearls that it was "just the ordinary repercussions of civilised society", Kimberlite could not bring herself to ever attend a second one.

The Onyx acting as executioner hadn't even redacted the Topaz's physical form.  
The gem's desperate screams still rang in her ears to this very day.  
She could recall having looked up at Blue Diamond during the breaking procedure, searching for her Diamond's eyes. She needed consolation: reassurance that this everything was still alright. As always, they remained carefully cloaked by her veil.  
She had flinched when her Diamond's large hand lightly touched her upper back, shortly following the breaking. Her long fingers grazed the gap between her shoulders- as they often did when the Diamond detected any level of discomfort in her subordinate.

" _Does something trouble you, Kimberlite?"_

Her voice could be so comforting at times, inviting as a soft, warm chaise on a cold evening. This often posed a surprise to those who knew Blue Diamond as the most withdrawn and glacial of their matriarchs.

" _I was just wondering what exactly…what…what was the Topaz' crime, my Diamond"_

" _That is none of your concern, little gem. You should not worry yourself over trivial matters such as the disobedience of the common ranks."_

" _Yes, my Diamond."_

The much larger gem's hand travelled down to Kimberlite's lower back, prompting for her to sit down upon the plush folds of the former's robes.

" _I can tell that you are still perturbed."_

" _Admittedly, yes, my Diamond."_

Blue Diamond gave a soft snort of mirth. _"Kimberlite…your penchant for concerned behaviour is amusing at times."_ Her hand came to rest upon the smaller gem's head, dwarfing her entirely. _"All you need to remember is that the actions of a single gem have the potential to impact the entirety of her race. Our laws protect the sanctity of our civilisation and this is for the safety and well-being of all gems, regardless of class or type…"_ Her voice had become quite gentle at this point, almost lulling. _"And you should remember that even, we the Diamonds, can be compassionate. We can be forgiving."_

" _Forgiving..."_ Kimberlite found herself echoing her Diamond's words.  
She flinched at the sudden feeling of Blue Diamond coaxing her to look upward, taking her by the chin with one colossal finger and guiding Kimberlite's eyes to meet her own.

" _But Kimberlite?"_

" _Y-…uh, yes…my Diamond…?"_

" _It is only when gems test the boundaries of our forgiveness that we must take…harsher approaches to discipline. You understand, don't you?"_

The sight of her Diamond's eyes from beneath the hood briefly brought a tremor to the smaller gem's shoulders and she had no chance to respond.  
At that moment, a Blue Pearl lifted one of the veils surrounding the litter.

" _My Diamond."  
_ She genuflected with enviable, fluid grace, holding forth the delicately carved box that she carried.

" _Ah yes."_ Blue Diamond's hand retracted to her lap before gesturing to the Pearl to display the contents. _"The shards of today's criminal…"_

The great Diamond leaned forward to inspect what was left of the decimated yellow gem.  
Kimberlite averted her eyes, though the words of Blue Diamond were still echoing in her ears.

" _Pearl, take these to be harvested…Kimberlite? Are you paying attention? This is the fruit of disobedience. Those who wish to destroy our society will be forced to serve it. Dead or alive…they are the ones who choose their own fate…we all ultimately choose our own fate."_

"You're lucky that Blue Diamond doesn't use gems with future-sight anymore!" the Peridot snapped, loading the new co-ordinates into the ship's control panel. "Or else she'd know about this pantomime already…"

Kimberlite was dragged forth from her melancholy reverie by the engineering gem's wheedling. She probably might have felt a little exasperated if she wasn't the one putting this poor Peridot in harm's way.  
She pulled her legs into her chest, resting her cheek upon her knees.

This was her one chance to see any other part of the galaxy.  
And she had always told herself that if a chance like this presented itself, she would make Earth her first destination.

The Peridot mumbled something mildly profane as the ship took on some turbulence, heralding its official leave of the Homeworld's galaxy.

" If we are caught," Kimberlite thought, her fingers starting to dig into the sides of her arms. "We will ultimately test the boundaries of the Diamond Authority's forgiveness."

Blue Diamond had said that every gem ultimately chose her own fate.  
Now it was time to see if this were true.

* * *

 _The Humble Wish_

"So then, I just totally dive over the guy! He doesn't see me coming and wham! Headshot! Level Up! Best score in the campaign! Heh-heh! This is why little kids need to stay off the online gameplay…"

He was at it, _again_.

Sadie sighed, watching as Lars continued his erratic bragging dance, still harping on about his latest exploits playing some indie first-person shooter that she'd been too tired to pay attention to the details of.

It was early in February, the start of the Spring tourist season and as such the doughnut shop had been weathering its usual boom in business.  
Management had insisted that having the two of them alone was more than enough to keep everything running smoothly during the day but it may as well have been a solo shift as far as Sadie was concerned.  
Between Lars flirting with and offering discounts to anything bikini-clad, (or remotely female, for that matter) ,that walked through the door, her work was hardly cut out for her.

And she was almost always certainly working with Lars, regardless of whatever shift she managed to pull.

It was almost closing time- the extended summer hours- leaving the duo behind the counter until the blazing azure heavens had turned dark.

Well, leaving _one_ of them behind the counter.

Lars was currently prancing around the tables, deeply engaged in his video-game related monologue as he tried to win the admiration of Beach City's resident royalty: Sour Cream, Buck Dewey and Jenny Pizza.

They had always seemed like a nice bunch, Sadie though.  
They were definitely the laid-back sorts and they played by their own rules but never seemed to cause too much trouble for their fellow beach-dwellers.

She was never going to be friends with any of them though.  
It was nothing personal- she had long accepted that- but she and people like that just ran in different circles. Her mother had always said that a friendship that was all work and no fun wasn't one worth keeping.

She wasn't sure if she had the energy to keep trying to stay in their good books the way Lars did.

 _Lars._

The young woman leaned on the counter-top, pretending to be re-arranging the napkins as she stole glances at his warping and wefting reflection in the glass case.  
 _Why did he still have this effect on her?_

He could be a total jerk to her.  
He could humiliate her, berate her, laugh at her, treat her like utter dirt…

And then all it took was that stupid puppy-dog begging or a well-placed touch of the arm and suddenly she was a blushing, gushing mess who was willing to do whatever he wanted.  
The thought of their lips touching still made her heart race.  
And that, in turn, made her stomach sick.

She was a _fool_ for even entertaining the idea that Lars would ever really want someone like her, she thought sadly, habitually twisting a lock of pale blonde hair around her finger.  
She was only ever his "player two" when there was no better option in sight and when someone more popular, more important or more beautiful came along, he was happy to toss her aside like yesterday's chocolate-glazed doughnuts.

Sadie caught her own reflection in the glass and cringed.  
Where had her self-respect gone?  
From time to time, a tiny voice inside her head that would remind her that she was so much better than all of this. Then the sight of a budding pimple, an extra dimple where her belly met the line of her jeans or a fleck of hair on her upper lip would effectively drown out that little voice to the point where she couldn't hear it any longer.

She was abruptly jerked from her slightly self-pitying reverie by the sound of Lars flinging himself against the Lion Lickers refrigerator.  
Apparently he was attempting to re-enact one of the cutscenes from his latest obsession.

"C-Careful!" she shouted out, stammering slightly and unable to restrain a very audible sigh as Lars' outstretched, flailing elbow managed to send Buck's coffee soaring off the table.

Her lanky co-worker was already garbling apologies to a very disgruntled Buck Dewey, all while trying to maintain some kind of cool composure. Sadie grunted, tearing herself from the counter-top and dragging herself into the supply closet.

By the time she managed to rustle up a mop from the back room, Lars had lapsed back into his _impress the cool kids_ routine and the steaming coffee puddle was starting to grow a skin.  
He hadn't made the slightest attempt to clean it up, leaving a red-faced, slightly stumbling Sadie to see to the mess.

She exchanged some awkward glances and mumbled apologies with shop's remaining clientele as she attempted to clean the mess.  
Her face became slightly flushed in the wake of Lars' _"you're seriously cramping my style"_ glower.

"We need to get out of here," Sour Cream muttered eventually. "My grandma wants me home before eleven and I need to start working on my DJ set for Saturday…"

And now came the part of the evening and Sadie had been absolutely dreading.  
Just as Buck, Sour Cream and Jenny started to pack up their things, Lars' embarrassed lower suddenly turned to a wide, warm smile.

"Hey Sade, great job on the mopping there…you know I'd love to do it but I'm so awful at this cleaning junk- you'd only have to do it again anyway…you know sometimes I wish I was more like you…"

Sadie wrung the mop out into the bucket, trying to tune Lars out but she couldn't help but crack the same stupid smile that crept over her every single time he spoke: "Oh…it was nothing…really…"

Stale coffee was one of the worst smells in existence.

"Gee, I know we need to lock up at eleven thirty," Lars continued to whine, stepping over the bucket so that he was in her full-view. "But if I don't go with the guys now, I won't get a chance to see Sour's new decks! See he's got this-…"

She averted her eyes, dodging him and trying to coax the bucket back into her tenure.  
His mouth was moving but all of his sudden his words seemed to faze into one garbled drone.

"…and Jenny's practically my only ride back home. You don't want me to walk back in the cold again?"

Sadie swallowed back her groans, dragging the mop back towards the counter with Lars at her heels. She had no idea why she even bothering to put up a passive front when she knew exactly how this conversation was going to end.

Exactly as predicted, Lars clasped her hand and her breath briefly stopped.  
As soon as their eyes met, an uncomfortable dryness began in her mouth.  
And when he said:

"So will ya do this favour for me, Sadie? You don't need me to lock up, do you?"

She exhaled, dropping her head a little as a defeated smile crossed her lips.  
"…no. I guess I don't. You…uh…you go have fun. I've got things here."

Lars bolted out of the door so quickly, hurtling his apron at her, that Sadie barely heard his bark of: " _Hey-thanks-you're-the-best!"_

When a rather crestfallen Sadie peeled the apron from her face, she was surprised to see Jenny Pizza standing in front of her.  
"Hey, Sadie…sorry 'bout keeping you here late."

The blonde woman felt a slight shiver come into her step as she smiled shakily in response; it wasn't often that girls like Jenny Pizza actually spoke to her.  
In fact, up until this point, she hadn't even been sure that Jenny even knew her name.

"Awh, it's ok. The manager gets kinda aggro if we don't stay until closing anyway."

Jenny followed her to the counter and placed a bundle of notes upon the counter.  
"That should cover everything, I think."

"Uh…gimme a second and I'll get you your change…"

Jenny smiled warmly, her gold earrings jangling as she shook her head. "Nah, consider it a tip. It's not easy pulling the late shift. I had to beg Kiki to cover mine tonight and I still can't believe dad let us off for Saturday…you going to the Valentine's beach ball?"

"…uh…I dunno…" Sadie murmured as she hung up Lars' apron, shrugging with a small smile. "I normally kinda just chill out at home…dancing in front of people…it's not really my thing…but I guess…" She paused for a moment, considering. "I'd go if someone asked me."  
She couldn't help but steal a glance at Lars through the window of the doughnut shop, goofing around the car with Buck and Sour Cream.

Jenny followed her gaze and moved a little closer to the counter, dropping her voice.

"Hey. Uh, mind if I say something a little personal?"

"…yeah, sure."

"You could do better than Lars, you know." Jenny grinned widely, raising an eyebrow at the shorter girl. " _Way_ better."

Sadie opened her mouth to say thank you but what immediately came out was; "Y'thinkso!?"

Jenny laughed softly. "I mean it. I really do. I mean, Sadie, you're so nice and you work so hard, all the time. You're like friggin' Cinderella. You deserve royalty for what you put up with…" She shot a glare over her shoulder, rolling her eyes at Lars' antics before turning back to the doughnut shop employee with a wink. "…or at least a break. So, give the Valentine's dance another thought, ok?"

Sadie watched in slight awe as Jenny turned and walked back out of the doughnut shop, in admiration of the other girl's confidence and just managing to call back: "…thanks for the tip!" She sighed a little, adding under her breath. "Both of 'em..."

Just over half an hour later, Sadie was locking up that back door.  
It wasn't too cold outside, she noticed.  
The sky was beautifully clear too.

Up above her head, the heavens were dotted with clouds of over a million, sparkling stars.  
It was almost an ethereal sight and just when she thought she'd found the brightest one up there- her eyes would suddenly be drawn to another glowing beacon, nestled amongst the wispy, lilac, summer clouds.

She liked star-gazing; she and her mother used to always go looking for shooting stars when she was younger.  
Or at least before she'd started working late nights.

At that moment- almost as if she'd somehow willed it to happen- a argent bolt lit up the sky above her.  
It had to one of the most stunning shooting stars she'd ever seen.  
Sure, shooting stars were pretty common at this time of year in Beach City, but she'd never seen one so dazzling.

Smiling to herself and deciding that she wasn't too old for a wish upon a star, Sadie whispered to herself:  
"Go on then, do your thing, star. Send me royalty…or at least a date for Saturday, if you're not too busy…"

She wasn't sure if she had imagined it or not but for a brief moment, as she stole a second glance up at the Heavens, she could have sworn the star was falling straight to Earth.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading thus far!**


	2. Chapter 2

_The Decision, her Duties and a Dewdrop_

"Are you alright?"

It sounded more like a shouted demand than a shout of concern. _  
_Kimberlite sat up slowly, gingerly removing the safety harness from over her chest. Pure habit had convinced her to wear it, despite Peridot having insisted that the artificial gravity being enough to prevent her from shattering should they encounter difficulty.

Ironically, this conversation took place only a few minutes before her reluctant escort was thrown from her position at the ship's main control panel.  
Luckily the ship's small size meant that she wasn't thrown very far.  
Unluckily, their bumpy landing had done absolutely nothing to improve the engineering gem's temperament.

The Peridot had spent most of their journey either complaining about her current ordeal or chastising Kimberlite for her lack of knowledge about the galaxy and when she wasn't doing either or those, she was criticising the small space-crafts' primitive flight deck.

The grey-skinned gem could hardly blame her though.  
The conditions behind this forced trip to Earth weren't exactly the most amicable and following what Kimberlite had managed to read about the failed colony- at least part of it had to be fear.  
Earth supposedly had the power to change gemkind.  
Whether it was the planet's atmosphere, environment or inhabitants- the ranks of Homeworld whispered in agreement that gems were known to forget themselves on Earth.

They forgot who they were, where their stations were and the purpose that they were originally made to serve.  
Supposedly, they all went mad.

Rumours circulated about a band of vicious, shard-thirsty rebels.  
A renegade Pearl who bore a weapon.  
A former soldier and former aristocrat bound together in a permanent, cross-gem fusion.  
A half-formed Amethyst who had the psyche of a human being.  
Even a Peridot who had supposedly (quite recently) broke her ties with Yellow Diamond.

And then there were the rumours of the hybrid.  
A terrifying creature that was half-gem and half-human.  
A creature that inspired horror and disgust among the gems who dared to speak of it.

But they were only rumours of course.

Peridot had also spent a sizeable portion of the journey insisting that the rebels had been entirely decimated immediately following the Earth Wars and that gem life on Earth was officially a thing of the distant past.

Right now, this very Peridot was practically peeling herself from the floor of the ship, inspecting her limb enhancers for notable damage.  
Having first ascertained that Kimberlite was still intact, of course.  
As much as the unwilling getaway driver disliked the situation she was in, the last thing she needed was for the Diamond Authority's personal DNA Storage Unit to be damaged.

"I am fine, thank you," Kimberlite managed to say, more shaken from the crash landing than hurt.  
Peridot seemed to have already noticed this and did not respond, simply rummaging in the wreckage around her.

"Stupid Earth atmosphere. Stupid Earth gravity. Stupid Earth! Stupid, stupid Earth!" she grumbled, pulling forth what appeared to be the last of the navigation board. "Gah! Completely smashed!"

"B-But you can fix it, right?" Kimberlite exclaimed, stumbling slightly as she got to her feet.

Peridot rolled her eyes. "Of course I can fix it but it's going to take time and effort. _Ugh_. This is not what I signed up for when I volunteered for temple duty!"

Kimberlite felt embarrassment creep over her again.  
This Peridot was not the first gem to resent the fact that she had essentially been given the task of "babysitting" her by Blue Diamond.  
Though, notably, this was the first time she'd ever coerced one of her personal staff into helping her hi-jack a ship and sneaking her off to Earth.

"Uh…well, the length of the Eclipse on our world is about one demi-circle and that's equal to five Earth orbits, so we have plenty of time to-…"

Peridot abruptly rounded on Kimberlite, immediately silencing the taller gem.

"Time is not the issue here," she snapped. "And you can officially stop attempting to advise me on that! The issue is that I'll have to repair this ship single-handedly…"  
Kimberlite bowed her head sheepishly. "I…I'm very sorry…for everything. Is there anything I can do to aid you in fixing the ship?"

It may have been Kimberlite's imagination but Peridot seemed to soften very slightly.  
 _Very_ slightly.  
"No," the green gem sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. "Without any training, you're not particularly useful in a situation like this, my Kimberlite. What you can maybe do is vacate the area and give me some space to work…"

"You mean go outside?"  
For the first time since their landing, Kimberlite realised that they were officially on Earth- a wild, fearsome, uncolonised planet- and her eyes were immediately drawn to the front window.  
The sky was the most bizarre shade of cyan, flecked with gold and lit with the transcendent, pale light of Earth's only sun.

An ecstatic smile began to creep across Kimberlite's face.

"Oh, no, no, no!" Peridot immediately interjected. "There is no way in the stars that I am letting you-…" The engineering gem paused lengthily, looking around at the battered consoles and weighing up her options. "…well, I _could_ use the extra space…" She exhaled, slumping her shoulders as she looked around. "I can't believe I'm saying this but if you could step out for a moment that would probably assist me in getting started…"

The taller gem needed no further coaxing.

Gleeful in adjusting her chiton around her waist, Kimberlite made her way to the ship's back hatch, only to be barred by Peridot's outstretched arm.  
Her extended fingers floated upward to activate the lock on the door.

"Halt right there," the green gem ordered, gritted teeth evident in her voice as she regarded Kimberlite with a glower. "You are _not_ just going traipsing around outside this ship through uncharted territory! Oh no, no no! Rule number one? You stay _inside_ the airlock. You can have the door open but you are _not_ going outside. Rule number two? If I call out for you, you come straight back inside to me without question. Rule number three? If anything alive and/or organic comes anywhere near the ship, you do _not_ \- under any circumstances- interact with it!" The green gem's eyes briefly widened into an earnest stare. "You're the Kimberlite. You have a responsibility to the Diamond Authority to uphold and an important role in our society."

That little reminder stung slightly.

Peridot opened a console with her free hand, the device whirring to life and seeming to blink in perfect synchronisation with the lights above their heads.  
"I've just enabled the ship's cloaking system…" She glowered up at Kimberlite. "Do you think you can follow those simple guidelines until I'm ready to supervise a proper expedition?"

Kimberlite nodded dumbly, keeping her tongue behind her teeth.  
She didn't quite like being spoken to so coarsely but she wanted to help Peridot and if this meant she could finally experience Earth, she was willing to let the smaller gem speak to her in whatever manner she liked.

"Good!" Peridot folded her mechanical arms, satisfied at last as she retracted the last of her extended digits. "Oh my stars!" The verdant engineer laughed a little, shaking her head. "A Peridot ordering the Kimberlite around? What would they think of me back on Homeworld?"

Kimberlite laughed a little too, though she didn't find being shouted at funny.

She had to restrain herself mentally to prevent her legs from breaking into a run when Peridot finally conceded and unlocked the ship's main exit hatch. Excitement was brimming within her at the prospect of finally being able to see this planet.

She made her way through the corridor and gathering her nerves, opened the external door with a trembling hand.  
Her legs grew weak and she found herself squatting at the very edge of the open door.

The first thing she noticed was that the sky seemed to be trapped between two zones of time.  
It was awash with a startling iridescent glow, filling the crevices in every shadowed slope of the silhouetted skyline.  
However, the sky was also partially dotted with small, sparkling stars that seemed to line the sky in their glittering estuaries.

The second thing she noticed was that the ground- only inches from her curled up feet- was lined with the oddest of green fibres.  
At first, they almost looked like shards of firoplast or silica substrate but a tiny, pearlescent drop of moisture rolled down the tip of one, travelling the span of its body before disappearing into the ground below.  
It caused the sweet little protrusion to bend in its wake.

Was this strange form of life, soft?  
Was it organic?

Kimberlite's felt herself smile as she hesitantly reached out to inspect the little green fibres.  
After all, Peridot had said nothing about _touching_ anything…

She marvelled as the odd, soft, little blades tickled the palm of her outstretched hand.  
Kimberlite tested her mettle and leaned forward a little more to touch the clumps of moist, brown bedrock that the green bits seemed to be sprouting from.  
It smelled like bedrock anyway.  
It was oddly soft though.

The gangly gem let out a cry as something cold glazed the back of her hand and couldn't help but giggle softly at the realisation that it was just water.  
The water felt different to the water on the Homeworld though.  
It plaited around her fingers as she tilted her wrist, commanded by the gravity surrounding her form.

Kimberlite gleefully played with the little droplet for a moment, mimicking the manner in which she'd once seen a Lapis Lazuli toy with an orb of water.  
She'd barely seen any of Earth so far.  
And already, she found it beautiful.

Strange but beautiful.

* * *

 _The Dawn Hobby_

If star-gazing was one of Sadie's favourite pass-times to enjoy in company, one of her favourite pass-times to enjoy alone was seashell collecting.  
It wasn't the most productive of activities but it was certainly one of the most therapeutic.

Whenever she was fortunately unfortunate enough to pull an early morning shift at The Big Doughnut, Sadie would head down to the beach around sunrise- just in time to see dawn peek her sleepy head over the horizon.

With at least an hour left to spare before opening, she could take a leisurely stroll along the beach and line her pockets with cockles, purses, conches and scallops galore.  
Whether she put them into her backpack for later or tossed them back into the waves from which they came, finding the secret, sandy bullion was the fun part.

And from time to time, she'd find something a little more interesting!  
Like an arcade token or a nickel or a G.U.Y. or G.A.L. figurine to give to Steven or Onion.

Sadie stooped to lift another smooth-topped mussel from the sands beneath her feet and gently dusted the grit from its ocean-chipped body.  
"Haven't seen one of these in a while…tides must be changing…"

Her stomach growled slightly as she inspected the shell.  
Mussels made her think about oysters.  
Oysters made her think about oyster crackers.  
Oyster crackers reminded her that she hadn't eaten breakfast yet.

"Well, I could always grab some of yesterday's jelly-stuffed doughnuts and put 'em in the fryer before opening," she mused, smiling slightly with a sigh. "Farewell diet. We never really got along anyway, did we?"  
She slipped the mussel shell into her coat pocket and brushed her fringe from her eyes, taking a good long look along the horizon line.

The sea wasn't exactly calm but it wasn't too violent either.  
It was nicely choppy, small breaks of white foam lining the sparkling waves as they crashed at the surface.  
Good surfing weather, she thought.

Sadie was just about to head back up to the boardwalk when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye.  
A thin black shape seemed to be protruding from some of the rocks on the far side of the beach.

The young woman stared at the shape for a moment, taking a moment to realise that it was shaped like a human being.  
It _was_ a human being, Sadie realised.

It was a human being standing on the rocks.  
Standing _way_ too close to the edge of the rocks when the waves were like this.

"Hey!" Sadie called out, waving over at the person. "H-Hey! Hey! Don't stand so near to the water! Hey!"

The person appeared to lift their head, still silhouetted by bright morning light, as they slowly turned to look over to where Sadie stood.

A bizarre feeling suddenly came upon her.  
It was a strange creeping warmth coupled with an overwhelming shyness.  
It was as though, even though she couldn't see the person's eyes, she knew that they were looking right at her.

For what felt like an eternity, she and the stranger simply stared at each other.  
No further words passed between them.  
Only the crashing waves served as a soundtrack to their silent exchange.

The person looked as if they were about to move towards her.  
Suddenly their form was engulfed by a wave, pulling them into the waters below.

* * *

 _Little Friend_

Kimberlite had never had seen such an odd little creature.  
"How fragile you look, little Earthling," the gem whispered, extending a finger to the tiny life-form.

Its entire body was glinting and black, like an Onyx or an Obsidian, though its legs were spindly and filament-like.  
Its face was so tiny that she could not quite see its eyes or mouth but the creature's both remarkable feature by far was the fact that it had two majestic wings.

It opened its wings for her, unfolding them with the gusto as though determined to show off its own magnificence.  
Kimberlite beamed at the hues of auburn, ochre, gold and russet.

"Did you pick out these colours for yourself? Or were you created with these? I've heard that here on Earth, you're quite liberal about appearances…"

The tiny Earthling flapped its pretty wings, scuttling around the greenery it was perched upon, brushing against Kimberlite's fingers.  
The gem cooed with delight as it clambered on to the back of her hand.

"Are you going to be my first ever friend?" she whispered, (praying to the stars and every being that governed her fate that Peridot wouldn't finished repairing the ship any time soon).

The little winged creature did not reply, merely flicking one of the stiff tendrils that protruded from its head.  
Perhaps it did not speak her language, Kimberlite thought, or perhaps it lacked an audible voice entirely.

It suddenly took flight, taking up new lodgings on a larger clump of green things nearby.  
"I didn't mean to offend you! We do not have to be friends!" the grey gem called out pleadingly. "We can be acquaintances! Or maybe you could just show me more of your planet?"  
The creature paused slightly- almost obligingly.

Desperate not to lose the first friend she'd made, Kimberlite looked over her shoulder warily before slowly getting to her feet.

Surely Peridot wouldn't be calling for her any time soon…

"With my gem protector on, I've nothing to worry about," she reasoned, adjusting the thick, black piece of armour that covered the gem on her forearm. "I won't be going far…I am just going to let this little creature show me around…"

She shuddered when she'd finally rose to her feet, noting that the air here was quite thin. The gravity felt much lighter than Homeworld's typical atmosphere. The ground beneath her feet was soft and moist but it did not give way as she walked across it.

Smiling with awe, she moved herself over to the little winged being once more.  
It alighted once more, fluttering away from her and leading her further into the strange cluster of sloping, organic structures of browns, greens and blues.  
Everything seemed to have its own texture, its own scent and its own aura of life.

She continued to follow the little winged being until finally, the great clusters of green gave way to a craggy wall of monolithic origins.  
Kimberlite had lost track of where the little creature had gone but finally able to recognise something on this planet, she didn't really care.

Rocks!  
Lots and lots of large, reddish rocks!  
She'd never seen a mineral composition quite like theirs before.  
She tried to make conversation with them but finding them to be largely unresponsive, instead busied herself in climbing over them.

There was something novel about being able to climb on top of something without hearing a Pearl screaming for her to _"GET DOWN THIS INSTANT BEFORE YOU SHATTER YOURSELF!"_

With shaking, trembling limbs, Kimberlite finally managed to stand up atop one of the rocks.  
And up there, she saw one of the most stunning sights she'd ever seen.

Around the base of the rocks, was a magnificent garland of whitish gold powder that stretched far off into the distance.  
But merely inches away from where she stood and framing this glorious tundra was quite possibly the largest body of water that Kimberlite had ever seen.

And it didn't sit still either.  
Rather than the mirror-glass plane formed by the water in her personal ponds and fountains, the surface of this water was alive and alert.  
It spat. It babbled. It roared. It sprayed.

Kimberlite moved closer, leaning over and looking at her own splintered reflection in this vast liquid miracle.  
Suddenly a flick of water cast a spray over her but she could only grin in the wake of the shrapnel.

"Hello," she said softly, prepared to entertain the idea that here on Earth, the water was sentient too.

"Hey!"

Kimberlite stood up straight in surprise, having not expected a response at all.  
She whipped around to the source of the noise, finding it to be a gem-like, bi-pedal being standing upon the distant powder.

She could not make out its features, only that it was swinging its arms at her.

Frozen in fear, Kimberlite could neither move nor speak.  
Its tone of voice did not appear to be aggressive or menacing but she suddenly wished that she'd never left the ship.

Trembling all over, she searched for the creature's eyes, hoping that it would leave her alone.  
Then she heard it- that note of concern, of kindness, of compassion- so perfectly interwoven into the individual's voice.

It made her feel warm.  
She felt as if the person wanted to care for her.  
To rescue her.

Kimberlite turned to face the being properly and carefully lifted a foot from the rocks, preparing to walk over to the creature.

Then, without warning, the great body of water reached out an arm and swept her into its embrace.

* * *

 _A Rescue_

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God…"  
Throwing aside everything she had learned in her high school water safety class, Sadie broke into a sprint down the beach.  
Perhaps her first move should have been to call the Lifeguard Service but the watch-tower was unoccupied. At this rate, it would take at least half an hour for the nearest Lifeguard to get there and her cell-phone was low on battery.

Her head was spinning and by the time she reached the rocks, her face was flushed.  
Breathing heavily, her eyes frantically scanned the surface of the water as she clambered atop the point where the stranger had been standing.

"C-Come on…there's no riptide…you couldn't have fallen far…"

She dropped to her knees, using one hand to anchor herself upon the crag and the other to swill away the foam that lined the edges of the rocks.  
It didn't take her long to catch sight of the stranger's form beneath the water; it wasn't deep but she was stunned to see that the being had already reached the bottom.  
 _How heavy was this person?_

"O-O-Ok! You just relax! I've got you!" she called out, unsure if the person could hear her as she plunged her hand into the briny waves.  
Her fingers immediately came into contact with a cloud of long, sinewy hair.  
She was almost shoulder-deep by the time she reached one of the stranger's arms and she was extremely relieved to feel the person start to move in her grip.

"Come on…let me help you!"

With one hard pull, Sadie managed to heave the person through the surface.  
What struck her immediately was just how light the person actually was- despite having somehow immediately sunk to the bottom of the miniature reef.

Her first instinct was to get the person immediate medical attention.  
 _Where should we go?  
There's a med-bay near the Arcade?  
Could I carry them that far?_

She shrugged the person into her arms, lifting them into a bridal-style carry. Her rescued victim was apparently unconscious, lying motionless in her arms.  
This was also about the time that she noticed the stranger was apparently female.

While trying to adjust the woman as she awkwardly ambled across the sand, Sadie started to notice one or two unsettling things.

Firstly, her body was extremely cold, even for someone who was soaked to the skin with salt water.  
Secondly, her skin was an odd colour: in places it was a pale white but in others it was a weird mottled mixture of green and grey.  
Thirdly- and most frighteningly- her torso was completely motionless against Sadie's chest, the unfamiliar woman's own chest not rising nor falling.

 _She wasn't breathing!_

Sadie froze on the spot and immediately set the woman down in the sand.  
These were all the primary signs of asphyxiation!

"Don't panic, don't panic," Sadie muttered to herself, trying to steady her own nerves before trying anything. "What comes first? Uh…M-N-C-B…Mouth-Neck-Compressions-Breath…ok, first comes her mouth!"

As carefully as she could, she moved her hands to the woman's jaw and tried to lightly prise her lips apart. She moved with caution; after all, she had no idea what injuries the woman had sustained in her fall.

But no sooner had she managed to open the woman's mouth wide enough to check for obstructions- without warning or whimsy- the stranger's eyes snapped open, staring right up into Sadie's.

"Ahh!"  
The blonde-haired lady immediately stumbled backwards, having been squatting on her haunches. "Oh my God, I am so, so sorry…I just…you fell…and I thought you were…are you…? Have you…? Do you…?" Her voice slowly vanished from her throat as the woman continued to hold her stare.

She had never seen eyes as big and green as hers.  
In fact, it was the deepest, most vivid green that Sadie had ever laid her own eyes upon.

She tried to will herself to keep talking but she found that her ability to do so had been momentarily disabled.  
The more she looked at the stranger, the more amazed she found herself drawn in by the stranger's appearance.

Her oddly coloured skin, beneath slivers of pale morning light, seemed to blend into an elegant dappled silver. Despite her argent hair having been sopping wet, it appeared to curl and frame her very round face and very long nose.  
Very slowly, the stranger sat up and after a moment of hesitation, offered Sadie her hand.

* * *

 _First Meeting_

Her skin was so warm.

It was the same creamy hue of a Pearl's yet around her facial area, it was sprayed with a soft quartz-like pink.  
She must have had the strength of a Ruby, thought Kimberlite, but she spoke with such gentility- there was no way in the galaxy that she could be a military being.

The hair that framed her face seemed to made of spun ivory gold, curling into delicate ringlets where they fell.

The being was not a gem…as far as she could tell but she spoke so quickly and with such anxiety that Kimberlite was immediately set at ease.  
This being posed her no threat.

She helped the Earth being back to a more upright position, their hands still clasped even after the creature was properly settled.  
Something immediately dawned on Kimberlite for the first time:

 _Was this a human?_

The could-be-human's very beautiful, very coppery eyes darted back and forth from Kimberlite's own eyes to their connected hands for a moment before she let out another mirkish cry and released the gem's clasp.

"Uh…"

They fell into silence again.

The Earthling held her gaze for a few more moments before finally speaking.

"Hello…"

Kimberlite couldn't help but break into a smile, overtaken by a kind of joy that she'd never known before.

"…hello."


	3. Chapter 3

_Doughnuts, Diamonds and Disappearing Puddles _

"Where the heck did she come from?! There's no way she's from around here…"  
"Lars! Keep your voice down! And…I…I don't really know. I haven't really asked her yet."  
"Well, when do you plan on asking ? 'Cuz I don't exactly feel safe with some weirdo squatting in the corner!"  
"Keep. Your. Voice. Down!" Sadie snarled through gritted teeth. "Look, this woman almost _drowned_ less than twenty minutes ago! The last thing she needs is someone grilling her with questions!" She looked over her shoulder hesitantly.

The stranger was sitting in the furthest corner of the Big Doughnut.  
She had managed to aid the tall woman in walking down the beach, across the boardwalk and back to the doughnut shop.  
Despite looking quite graceful, the mystery lady was shaky on her feet and contradictingly clumsy. On more than one occasion, she had almost toppled them both over- seeming to briefly lose control of her long legs.  
But she was polite and good humoured and consistently grateful too, offering thanks to Sadie with every second breath.

Lars was staring at the well-mannered stranger now, with the same curious-but-wary intensity that the odd woman herself was staring at the _Lion Lickers_ refrigerator.

"Stop staring," Sadie pleaded with her co-worker, almost embarrassed on behalf of him for his rudeness.  
The young man ignored her request, continuing to gawk and muttering. "She almost kinda looks like one of those…the ones who hang out with…" He grunted, shaking his head. "Whatever the heck she's doing here and whoever the heck she is, I'm not getting involved." He looked down at Sadie, rolling his eyes before dismissively pulling out his phone and walking away from the counter. "You brought her in here. You can get rid of her before opening. I'm not taking any hits if the manager finds out that you gave her free food…"

Now it was Sadie's turn to roll her eyes.  
" _Because you don't give a free coffee to every girl who walks in here?"_ she almost said out loud.

"And you'd better get a mop too! She's dripping a friggin' lake under the table over there!" the contradictor himself shouted as he sauntered into the back room, completely forgetting about any form of décor or subtlety.

Sadie just about ready to slap a hand to her forehead as she made her way over to her could-have-been drowning victim. Regardless of any disagreements she had with Lars, she found herself worrying for the white-haired lady.

She cleared her throat, feeling her heat starting to heat up when the woman's bright gaze redirected to her own. "Uh…is everything ok?"

The stranger smiled brightly. "Yes, perfect. Thank you."

"That's…uh…that's good," Sadie replied, scratching the back of her neck as she racked her brain for something intelligent to say. "Is your…is your doughnut ok?" She gestured to the untouched chocolate-glazed pastry on the table. "I could get you a different flavour if you'd like. We've got like fourteen different frostings and like seven or eight fillings…and I could fix you one fresh too, if that's better?"

Yes.  
Rambling about doughnuts.  
That was definitely going to help a woman who had almost lost her life to the oceans visible from the shop's window.

But the stranger simply looked up at her with the same gentle smile and shook her head. "The colour is fine and the scent is delightful. I am very happy with this..." She tilted her head. "Did you call it a dough…nut?"

Sadie nodded dumbly.  
Wow, her first instincts had been right: she _wasn't_ from around town.

"Yeah, that's a doughnut alright. Your typical breakfast, lunch, dinner and/or dessert pastry. Is your coffee ok?" The steaming Styrofoam cup looked virtually untouched too. "I thought it might warm you up…"

"Warm…me…?" The woman looked confused for a moment before instantly beaming as though something had just dawned on her, realisation spreading from the upward curve of her lips to the peak of her brow-line. "Oh, I see!"

Without warning, she suddenly plunged her hand into the cup, sending the brown liquid overflowing and drizzling down the sides.

Sadie let out an involuntary shriek, grabbing the woman by the elbow and yanking her hand back out. "No! No! I meant warm you up by _drinking_ the coffee!" She took the lady's hand, worriedly inspecting it for burn damage. "I didn't mean for you to…to…"

Her voice left her throat, followed quickly by her breath when the stranger's hand suddenly closed around hers.  
Her skin felt oddly cold, even in the wake of being submerged in hot coffee, but it wasn't an unpleasant feeling. The soft, unintrusive chill reminded Sadie of slipping into crisp, new bedsheets after a long day of work or a cool, gentle breeze on a hot summer's afternoon.

For a moment, she could only stare at the stranger's lithe, greyish fingers looped around her own- their skin palettes entwined like strange, beautiful braids.

"Are you…hurt? Burned? At all?" Sadie eventually asked her, daring to look the stranger in the eye once more.

She was still smiling but her brow was arched with a kind of worried tristfulness. "I am not burned but thank you for your concern. I apologise for my lack of grace…you must forgive me. I am…not of this place."

Sadie nodded with a nervous giggle. "Yeah, I figured as much…oh, uh…" She unlaced her finger's from the strangers' realising how bizarrely physical she was being with someone she'd only met less than an hour ago. "Sorry. Uh…" She coughed, straightening up. "Even if you're… _somehow_ …not burned from the coffee, you really should go to a hospital. Second hand drowning is a really serious thing. Do you want me to call an ambulance for you?"

The stranger laughed the most melodic laugh that Sadie had ever heard.  
"Again, I can only assure you that I am truly unharmed. If I were hurt, I would have retracted long ago." She bowed her head, her long hair slipping past her slender shoulders. "But your attendance to my needs is positively without flaw. You are called _Sadie_ , are you not?"

"Yeah, that's me," the blonde haired young woman confirmed with a grin, still trying to figure out where this woman was from exactly. "What did you say your name was, again?"

"I am called Kimberlite."

"Kim Burlight? Heh, nice to meet you."

"You work in service quarters, do you not?"

"I…huh? Well, I've worked here at the Big Doughnut for the last few summers."

"And…the "Big Doughnut" is your master?"

"Well, yeah. I work for the company, I guess."

Kim's speech patterns hinted that English was definitely not her first language but in stark contrast to this, she had no decipherable accent so to speak of.

"May I speak to the Big Doughnut? I wish to praise your service to her so that she might reward you."

Sadie's eyebrows shot up under her tufty bangs. "Whuh? The Big Doughnut's not a person. Like, I've got a manager but he's not in today. Oh! Thanks for the thought though. I'm always happy to help."

Kim still looked utterly confounded. "Your master is not here? Then who are you in service to?"

"In service to?" Weird foreign syntax, she supposed. "Well, I'll serve food to anyone who comes in the door, really. As long as they can pay for the snacks, we can provide them. That's what the employee manual says anyway…" She shrugged with a smile, quickly adding. "You're a special case though. Don't worry."

"So you're in service…to the public? To anyone who can afford your service? Not to one single master?" Kim's excitement seemed to be mounting by the second, a wide smile bursting across her face. "That is positively inspired! Novel! Wonderful! Oh, this place is just as mesmerising as the rumours have made it out to be…" She clapped her hands in delight, ecstatic for one moment and then at the next, she had keeled over, leaning across her thighs and groaning.

"Oh my gosh, are you ok?" Sadie stooped to Kim's level, her hands upon the taller woman's shoulders to help her sit up again.

"I…I am still fine," she responded, her breathing a little more laboured. "I need to be careful with how excited I get. With the crash earlier…my physical form is possibly still healing…"

"What? You were in a crash?"  
For the first time, Sadie noticed that one of the woman's bare forearms was covered by what appeared to be a kind of black, strap-on gauntlet. "Oh, hang on…are you diabetic?"  
It must have been an insulin pouch; Sadie felt like an idiot. The stranger must have been talking about a sugar crash. "It's ok. My cousin's got Type Two. I know how to do this." She started to remove the black covering that she presumed to contain a set of insulin needles. "Do you have something we…can…check your lev-…?"

Her mouth stopped working, her words screeching to a grinding halt as the gauntlet fell away.  
Beneath the pouch was not an ordinary (albeit greyish or greenish) stretch of skin.  
Beneath the pouch was what appeared to be a form of hard, verdant rock.

Coloured jade and stretching from the woman's wrist to her elbow, the rocky substance was uneven and flecked with marks of silvery greys and clusters of clear, crystalline pebbles.  
At first, Sadie assumed it to be some kind of ornate piece of jewellery but it didn't take her long to realise that the stone was actually fused to the woman's skin.

Kim, herself, looked a little bashful and seemed to be hunching down in her seat as she slowly retracted her arm.

"Oh…I'm sorry!" Sadie said quickly, immediately handing her back the covering. She had probably just humiliated a woman with what looked like an uncomfortable skin condition. "Sorry, I didn't mean to take your, uh, thing off. I just thought that…"

"It is…fine. This is just my gem protector. I am supposed to wear it at all times to prevent damage to my gem but…" Kim shrugged. "I never see anyone else wearing one. If I am honest, I do not particularly enjoy wearing the device"

Sadie's eyes locked on to the swirling green colours, tracing each curve and cut with amazement. "It's really beautiful. I mean…in a certain light, those parts look like _diamonds_..." She blushed, lifting her head and meeting Kim's eyes again. "Uh, sorry…I don't mean to stare…"

Kim smiled widely, taking Sadie's hand and guiding it to rest on the strange stone. "Shh. No more apologies. It is I who should be apologising to you, Sadie. For inconveniencing you." She followed the human woman eye's downward. "And they look like diamonds because they _are_ diamonds. Some of the smaller fragments grow closer to the surface of my gem."

"You can _grow_ diamonds in your skin?" Sadie breathed, forgetting her initial insecurities and running her fingers over the coarse, sparkling flecks in wonder.

"Only the pieces that they need me to replace." Kim frowned. "I must apologise for the size. It must be disappointing to see them so puny but I haven't been tasked with growing an average size fragment in a while. I really do not get much notice before my commissions but then again, I suppose the Diamonds cannot control when they get injured..."

"I'm gonna be honest and say that I'm not sure what you're talking about," the human woman said with a smile. "But even a "puny" piece of diamond like _this_ one is worth millions here in the States. Like, if you went to any jewellery retailers in the country, they'd probably make you're their queen or something. Or at least a spokesmodel."

"These pieces are of value to you? But they are not sentient. Not even slightly…"  
Kim spread her hands in bemusement, knocking what was left of the coffee on to the floor.

"Oh no. Have I soiled your work station?"

"Nah, it's all good," Sadie all but garbled, hastily removing her hands from the woman's stone adornment as she stood up. "I was gonna get a mop anyway. For the seawater, y'know?"  
She gestured vaguely to the seawater puddles around the table, now quickly intermingling with the dribbles of black coffee that ran in estuaries across the tiles.

"Please, Sadie. I created this mess. Allow me to aid you. It would be the least that I could do in exchange for your excellent attentiveness."  
Kim lifted her hand and there was no way that Sadie could have prepared herself for what happened next.

The stone suddenly glowed a bright, white light and the human woman watched in amazement as all of the liquid- as though it were a piece of gauze material- lifted from the ground and slowly vanished where it floated. Every drop of coffee and water suddenly fazed into thin air as though it had never existed in the first place.  
No colour. No stain. No scent. Gone.

"Is that sufficient?"  
Kim turned to her with a wide smile, standing up to offer a hand to Sadie- who had not realised that she had fallen to her knees in shock. It wasn't that she had never seen supernatural abilities before, (the lighthouse incident still gave her the occasional shivers at night), she just hadn't been expecting it from a woman who was fit to be sent to the hospital.

"You just-?! How did you-?!"

"It is simply one of my abilities. I do not normally use it often so I offer my apologies once more if it was disappointingly slow."

"Your abilities?! You can just _do_ that?! You-?" Sadie stopped, slowly taking Kim's hand and studying the stone on the woman's forearm. "You…really just did that, didn't you?"

The woman with green and grey marbled skin stood up and nodded, smiling. "Yes. I did. Did I do something wrong?" Kim paused, looking a little troubled. "Would you have preferred if I had left the liquid where it was?"

" _Hang on a moment,"_ the doughnut shop employee thought. " _Strange but weirdly beautiful woman…who talks like she's from another planet…with a stone embedded into her skin…who can use magic?"_

This time, Sadie had to grab herself by the wrist to stop herself from slapping a hand to her forehead in exasperation.  
 _Of course._

Kim. Burlight.  
Kim-burlight.  
 _Kimberlite._

"You're one of _them_ ," she said aloud, her eyes widening slightly with realisation as she spoke her uncovered truth aloud. "Oh! Now, it makes sense. You're one of Steven's mom's friends!"  
As she spoke, Sadie could feel her pace of speech starting to get faster as the words gushed from her mouth. "Ha! I am such an idiot. That makes so much sense! I was wondering about the hair and the skin and the _jewel_ and everything but that's because I thought you were, like, y'know, completely human? Not that there's anything wrong with not being completely human! I mean Steven and the gems are some of the nicest people I know. Heck, I'm actually kinda relieved now! I thought you needed some serious med care after that whole drowning thing and turns out you're gonna be fine. Don't worry, I know that you guys are pretty good with water. Lars and I once saw Garnet just walk straight into the ocean before – just like she was going downstairs into a basement or something- and she didn't come out for about two or three hours! Talk about endurance, even without the lack of oxygen, I can't imagine the sea's your typical walk in the park…"

Despite the unconscious voice of her grade school drama teacher barking at her to slow down, she couldn't help but continue her skittish ramble. Something about just watching the willowy woman's reactions to her garbled monologue was enough to set an uncomfortable yet wonderful spark of electricity shooting up her spine. Every small flick of her eyelid and taut line in her jaw filled her an inexplicable kind of frightened, excited adrenaline: as though she was afraid that if she stopped talking, Kim would suddenly cease to exist all together.

"…and your _name_. Kimberlite is a type of precious stone, right? Like Sugilite? I met her before, a little over a year ago. Can't say it was a positive experience but I think she had some things to work out with Pearl. No family is perfect. But anyway, it _is_ Kim _berlite_ , yeah? Like one word? Good thing I figured that out! I was calling you Kim! I'm so sorry. Ha…I'm glad I figured that out before I said something else that made me look like a complete and total mor-…!"

Sadie had taken a step sideways as she spoke, (a habit of hers when she was rambling), only for the sole of her shoe to become intimately acquainted with one of the smaller puddles that Kimberlite appeared to have missed.  
She violently skidded sideways, bracing herself in the anticipation of the harsh, cold slap she'd take from the floor tiles.

But this impact never came.  
When Sadie opened her eyes again, Kimberlite was leaning over her, having caught her mid-fall.  
Her own pert, rounded nose was only inches from the gem's long and hooked one; suddenly her face was aflame.

They simply stared at each other for a moment before Kimberlite eventually smiled.  
"You can call me Kim," she told the human softly. "I like Kim. I like hearing you talk too, Sadie. I should like to hear you talk more often…" Her smile dissipated briefly and she cocked her head to one side in curiosity. "But please do tell me, what is a Steven? And-?"

"M-My Kimberlite!?"

Before she could say another word to the smaller woman cradled in her arms, Kimberlite was suddenly abruptly interrupted by a shriek from across the restaurant.

Both of them turned to see a Peridot standing by the door, a blue diamond emblazoned across her uniform, a destabilising cannon mounted on to her right limb enhancer and a positively scandalised expression on her face.

"Human!" she barked, raising her weapon with wide, unblinking eyes. "Unhand the Kimberlite _this instant_ or face the pains of certain death!"

"Oh, hey, Peridot," Sadie greeted, awkwardly attempting to stand up straight. She could recall Steven mentioning that Peridot wasn't the best with social interactions and having witnessed this already first-hand, she chucked the gem's shouted threats up to a misunderstanding. "How's it going? Is that a new, uh, shirt? And have you…maybe gotten taller?"

" _I warned you!"_ the Peridot snapped, starting to charge the weapon, only to find her target blocked by the gem who had coerced her into coming to Earth in the first place.

"Peridot, stand down," Kimberlite told her. "It's alright. This Sadie is no threat to me or to you."

At this moment in time, Lars took the opportunity to walk out of the back-room, yawning and scratching his back. "Ok, Sade…I'm done my morning nap so…" His eyes turned to dinner plates at the scene before him, his gaze darting from Sadie to Kimberlite to Peridot to Kimberlite to Sadie and finally settling on the weapon on Peridot's arm. "Actually, y'know what? I'm gonna just take my afternoon nap a little bit early today…" And with that, he abruptly returned to the back room.

"Enough of this farce!" the bright green gem yelped, obediently lowering the blaster but practically growling at Kimberlite as she ordered her to: "Get over here now! Don't touch that human, you don't know where it's been!"

Sadie frowned, feeling a little indignant. "Hey, I showered this morning…"

"You will show the Sadie some respect," Kimberlite stated authoritatively, her hand settling on Sadie's shoulder. "If she had not aided me, I very well may be shattered by now."

"There wouldn't have been a risk of you being shattered if you had just _stayed in the ship like I told you to!"_ Peridot all but shrieked.

"Please Peridot. To act in my protection is to act in the protection of the Diamond Authority. You know that."

For a brief few moments, the gems seemed to be sharing a silent dialogue.

Then the Peridot rolled her eyes, heaving an exasperated sigh as she turned to Sadie and recited in the most wooden, unamused tone of voice: "The Court of Blue Diamond thanks you for your invaluable service. We hope that one day you will be of value to us again. Pray that your race never comes to blows with ours." She redirected her attention to Kimberlite once again. "You need to return to the ship as soon as possible. This goes far beyond our original agreement. You are here to observe- not to..." She gave Sadie a brief, withering but thoroughly reviled look. "… _interact_."

Now it was Kimberlite's turn to sigh, slowly dropping her hand from Sadie's shoulder.  
"Very well. Just keep your blaster down. We need to keep a low profile, after all."

"Says the gem who wanders away from safety only to try and practically fuse with a human being," the Peridot muttered, holding the plexiglass door open as Kimberlite prepared to leave.

Sadie's cheeks turned from a rouged frustration to a bashful rose when the verdant, ardent gem suddenly took her by the hand. "I am so sorry for Peridot's behaviour. It is my fault that she is here and despite that, she really is only trying to keep me safe."

In spite of the sudden urge to snatch her hand away from Kimberlite's, Sadie only shook her head, managing a slightly flustered smile. "It's all good. You should see how scary my mom gets when she's feeling protective."

"I only wish there was some way that I could repay your great kindness, Sadie."

"What? No. Don't mention it. Like I said, I'm just relieved that you're not hurt or something…"

"Still, there must be _something_ that I could do to…" Kimberlite looked down at her hands for a moment, her gaze slowly travelling along her left arm. "Wait, did you not say that the non-sentient diamond fragments are of value to you?"

Before Sadie could offer any form of reply, Kimberlite had released her hand and placed it over the gem that lined her own forearm.  
The sparkling stone glowed beneath her fingertips and the gem shuddered slightly.

"You're not-?! Do not-!" spluttered Peridot, looking utterly horrified at what she was witnessing.

But Kimberlite did not stop and a few seconds later, her head was lifted once more. She smiled widely, placing something small and slightly jagged into Sadie's hand. "It is quite small but it has sufficient cuts to be considered perfect in most cultures. I only lament that I could not give you more right now…"

"Did you take something out of your arm?! Are you ok?!" Sadie begged to know, surveying Kimberlite carefully, only to be met with the same warm, melodic laughter that had filled her with joy earlier.

"I am fine, Sadie. It was only part of my epidermis. No need to worry."

The human watched with acutely shell-shocked awe as Kimberlite walked from the establishment, Peridot snarling at her with every step.

It took her a few moments to regain her breath but when Sadie's legs finally stopped shaking, she had a moment to look down at what Kimerlite had actually given to her.

"Woah…is that…?"

She had only ever seen two of them in real life.  
One in her mom's favourite necklace and the other when she had worked part-time at a department store and had the privilege of helping with a wedding order.

But despite her lack of experience with them, there was no denying that nestled in Sadie's palm was a flawless, clear cut, pear-shaped diamond.

"She tipped you with a rock? Lame…"

Sadie jumped slightly, realising that Lars had finally emerged from the back room once more and was now standing at her back.  
She indignantly clutched the diamond to her chest, quickly slipping it into her breast pocket. "Nice to see you've finally returned to the land of the living!" she snapped up at her co-worker.

"I would have loved to help out this morning, Sade, but you know that I hate taking someone else's chance to prove their managerial skills and you know that I don't work at my best without at least nine hours rest…"

But Sadie had already tuned him out as she began to wipe down the table that Kimberlite had been sitting at. Her hands settled over the point where the gem's own hands had been elegantly folded atop the marbled surface.

She thought about the way Kimberlite's hand felt in hers.

She wanted to feel it again.

* * *

 _Hey, thanks for reading!  
From now on, the chapters will take on more of a vignette style of narration.  
If you're wondering where in the timeline this takes place, it would be just a few days after "Message Received" , though feel free to treat this as an alternate timeline. _

_The next few episodes will see the return of some more of our loveable canon characters!  
Hope you've enjoyed so far! _


	4. Chapter 4

_Thank you for reading.  
:) _

* * *

_A Risk and a Realisation_

She could try pawning it.  
Or selling it online.  
Or maybe she could get it set into a piece of specially customised jewellery.

She couldn't stop looking at it.  
Every now and then, she would steal a peek at it- briefly slipping it from her jean's pocket and peering at it in hands cupped as delicately as though she was holding a butterfly.

It sparkled elegantly in certain lights, twinkled coyly in others and if one of its sides managed to catch the orange, iridescent glow given off by the mini-oven, it would give off such a powerful gleam that Sadie could not believe that it wasn't emanating from the diamond's very core.

"Order up. Table Eight."  
At the sound of Lars' familiar midday-slump-drawl, his co-worker immediately slipped the gem fragment back into hiding. Although her fellow cashier had initially branded the precious stone as a "worthless beach pebble", she still didn't want him seeing it.  
He could say what he wanted to, she decided; it was definitely a real diamond.

She hadn't showed it to her mom either when she'd stopped by with the owner's mail.  
She hadn't even _told_ her mom about Kimberlite.  
Maybe it was because she knew that regardless of the worth of the stone to Kimberlite, it was still far too much for her to accept as a gift from a practical stranger. Maybe it was because her mother would tell her this. Maybe it was because her mom would convince her to give the stone back to Kimberlite, (after giving her a lecture on why she should have just called the life guards).  
That would, in turn, would mean that she had to see the woman again.

Sadie picked up the tray and brought it over to the waiting couple. "Hey there folks, sorry to keep you waiting…"  
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't banish the images of the gem sitting in that very spot, looking up at her with that bizarre, curious smile.

The very scene alone- imagined or real- filled her with a kind of palpitating panic coupled with intrigue that she just couldn't name or place.

It wasn't that she didn't _want_ to see Kimberlite again.  
There was something about her that she really liked and she had enjoyed chatting with her, (oddly aggressive interruptions from Peridot aside).  
But at the same time, there was something about the stranger that made her nervous too. It was as though Sadie was afraid that anything she might say would suddenly cause that twinkle of curiosity would vanish from her eyes and that absolutely mesmerising smile would disappear and Kimberlite would cease to want anything to do with her.

Supposing that Kimberlite wanted something to do with her in the first place.

She politely accepted a five dollar tip from one half of the couple and decided to give them their space, clearing the table with haste and backing away in retreat to check out the coffee filters.  
She watched with admiringly bashful but faintly envious eyes as one of the couple took their laughing date's hand and guided it to their lips.

"Probably here for the Valentine's Beach Ball this weekend," Sadie mused with a small smile, leaning back on the beverages counter. Normally, she'd be contentedly, (or tiredly), contemplating the extra hours she'd be getting to work and the extra business that the Big Doughnut would be getting but again, her mental rhythms were completely invaded.

Thinking about the Valentine's Ball was, in turn, making her think about what Jenny Pizza had said.

She dared to steal a glance at Lars from where she stood.  
Her co-worker was simply staring at the cash register with eyes that were as glazed over as one of the frosted doughnuts displayed in the counter beneath him.  
Was it awful beyond awful that she still desperately wanted him to ask her to be his date?

She didn't know what made Jenny think that Lars was somehow beneath her.  
If anything, the only thing stopping her from asking _him_ to the ball was that she didn't feel as though she was in his league at all.

Sadie took the little diamond from her pocket once more, toying with it between her fingertips before letting it settle back into her cupped palms.  
"Maybe I'm being way too hard on myself," she thought. "Lars and I have been friends for a long time…we've had some pretty crazy close moments…we lived on a desert island together…we've _kissed_ …is it so bad that I wanna be more than friends with him? Heck, maybe he wants it too. Maybe _he's_ the one who's too shy to ask _me_ out…"

The little diamond winked up at her, sparkling in the faint glow given off by the coffee machine's power switch.

"Maybe I _will_ ask him out," Sadie murmured aloud, closing her fingers over the little stone. "Hey, if someone thinks I'm good enough at my job to tip me a diamond, I must be doing _something_ right."

Gathering her courage and steeling her nerves, she slipped the diamond back into her breast-pocket and walked to where Lars was sitting, still glaring at complete nothingness.

Well, at least he wasn't busy.

"H-Hey…uh, Lars?"

Something mildly terrifying dawned on her for the first time.  
When approaching her co-worker, the kind of tippling anxiety she felt was not unlike the same kind of anxiety she felt when she thought about meeting Kimberlite again.

The young man continued to stare into space, not bothering to look at his co-worker as he responded:  
"What?"

The difference between Lars and Kimberlite was that she had known the young man for years and he tended to talk to her like a nuisance. Despite only having known her for less than two hours, the gem, on the other hand, spoke to her like she was the most important person in the room.

Lars' voice couldn't have been more bored or sullen if someone had paid _him_ a diamond to make it so.

"Uh…I was just wondering if, uh…well, look, if you don't want to, that's fine and all but maybe…"

"I am _not_ cleaning out the coffee filters, Sade. We've been through this. I have sensitive skin. Doctor's orders. Remember?"

Sadie cringed faintly at the not-so-distant memory of a shabbily written doctor's note that had been passed on to their manager.  
A note that he had pressured her into forging a signature on because the real doctor's signature had "accidentally rubbed off."

"No, no, it's not like that," she said quickly, really hoping to get the question out of her mouth before she lost her nerve again. "I was actually just going to ask you about the Valentine's Beach party thing."

Now Lars actually looked at her, with a kind of intensity that surprised her.  
"Actually, now that you bring it up, there _is_ something I want to ask you."

He smiled widely, Sadie's own lips starting to tremble a little.

"Y-Yeah? Yeah. Go right ahead!"

"Well about the whole ball thing?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think that Kiki would go with me?"

"I'd lo-!" Sadie had to swallow back her own enthusiasm as the reality of Lars' response slowly hit her; the weight of each word hit her slowly and painfully. "Ahem, I mean…Kiki?"

"Yeah, Kiki Pizza. Y'know, Jenny's sister? Do you think she'd go with me? Jenny said she was going with someone else when I asked her last night." He scoffed. "Probably Sour Cream. She just wants access to the DJ booth…I'm pretty sure that she'd be all over me by midnight anyway." Lars cocked an eyebrow. "So, what do you think?"

 _He would never change. Why did she think he would ever change?  
Why did she keep wishing that he would change for her?  
Why did she keep wishing she could change for him? _

"Hell _ooo_? Earth to Sadie!"

The blonde woman blinked, shaking her head briefly as she tried to bring her mind back to the world of the living.  
"Huh, what?"

" _Kiki_ _Pizza_. Should I ask her out?" Lars drawled at her slowly, as though speaking to the child. He looked her directly in the eye and tutted, grimacing. "Geez, Sadie, try to listen to me for once. Sometimes it's like you don't even care enough to pay attention…"

"Ask her or don't ask her. It's up to you," she cut across him abruptly, turning away as she willed her voice not to crack. "I'm no-…I'm not good with that sort of thing. You know that." She sighed, placing her hand over her phone in her pocket. "Can you watch the tables for a second? I have to make a phone call."

As she made her way to the backroom, she could hear Lars' already shouting after her.  
He was saying something about not taking longer than five minutes but Sadie could not care less.

As soon as she was safely in the background, she took her phone into her shaking-with-rage hands.

Chewing the inside of her mouth and trying to keep her annoyed screams swallowed, she leaned back against a stack of old doughnut boxes.

"Don't let him get to you," she told herself. "Don't get angry. He's not worth it…"

Whispering this mantra as she dialled her desired number, Sadie lifted a hand to trace the small, jagged outlines of the diamond resting in her shirt pocket.  
She had made her mind up.

She was going to meet up with Kimberlite again.

"…to give her back the diamond," she murmured to herself, her voice thinning out to silence as the dial tone on the phone began to chirrup. "Hey, Steven! I hate to bother you but I was just wondering if I could talk to one of the gems…she just gave me something a little earlier this morning and I wanted to return it…ah, no…Kimberlite…she left the Big Doughnut with Peridot…no, _Kimberlite_ …wait, so she's _not_ one of your mom's friends?"

* * *

 _News _

Skidding slightly in his flipflops and his hot-dog duffle bag lightly bouncing against his back as he ran, Steven didn't lose his pace as he continued his sprint all the way to the barn.  
By the time he reached the coarse, wooden door where the chalk-board was propped, he was breathing heavily- his face tinted the same colour as his t-shirt.

"Woah, don't choke on your tongue, little man," chided Amethyst playfully, clapping him on the back as she exited the barn. "What's got you in such a rush? I thought today was gaming day…"

"We've finished our progress on the drill for today, Steven," Pearl told him, slipping from thedappled shade in the purple gem's wake and stooping to aid Steven in standing up straight. "But it was very thoughtful of you to come down to us."

"Need…to…see…Peridot…" Steven managed to say, still trying to regain his full lung capacity as he looked around. Sure enough, the bright green gem was tinkering with some varied appliances near the far fence. "Peridot!"

Despite Pearl insisting that he sit down for a moment, the half-gem scrambled over to the engineer.

"Steven," she greeted him upon approach, her eyes surveying him from behind her visor. "You look…moist."

"Peridot!" he spluttered. "Were you at the Big Doughnut this morning?"

"Steven, I do not eat. For what possible purpose could I have frequented your human nourishment establishment…"

"And you weren't with another gem called Kimberlite?"

"Again, a little reminder to you, I really try to limit my explorations of your human urban environment to as litt-…" She dropped the hammer she had been holding, her eyes suddenly widening to twice their normal size. "D-Did you say _Kimberlite_?!"

"…what?"  
Pearl had come to flank Steven's left side, Amethyst eagerly in tow.

"Who or what the heck's a Kimberlite?" the lilac-skinned gem demanded to know, crossing her arms.

"Are you serious?!" Peridot shrieked. "In all your years of life, you've never once heard of the Kimberlite?!"

"Should I have?" Amethyst retorted lazily with a shrug.

"But what's she doing here?" Pearl blurted out, clasping her hands in front of her chest as her voice escalated in volume. "Why would they risk sending her here? Unless…"

"… _they_ plan on coming here too," Peridot wheedled, her knees starting to shake. "It's happening! Oh my Stars, it's happening. Yellow Diamond is coming to crush me!"

"Hey! Guys! What's the big deal about this gem?" Steven interjected, having suddenly regained his voice. "You're talking like she's some kind of monster but Sadie said she was really friendly and was really worried about her…"

"If Kimberlite is here on Earth, it can't be a coincidence that whoever brought her landed here."

The foursome all simultaneously jumped slightly at Garnet's unannounced appearance.

"If her coming heralds what we fear, then we need to make finding her a priority," the tall, demure gem went on.

"Will someone please explain to me what's going on?" Amethyst groaned. "If this Kimberlite chick is so bad than why have I never heard of her?"

"She's not supposed to be outside of Homeworld," Pearl said quickly. "The Diamond Authority would never sanction her leaving unless one of them was coming with her. They wouldn't risk it for any other reason."

"Meaning athat if she's here, the Diamonds can't be far after," whimpered Peridot, still staring into space with a horrified expression.

Steven looked up at Garnet for assurance. "Are we really sure she's all that bad? I mean…Sadie's pretty good at reading people…and Kimberlite didn't try to hurt her when she had the chance…"

Garnet sighed heavily, looking down sideways at the young boy, her concerned gaze masked by the gleam of her visor palette. "Steven, while Kimberlite herself may not be a bad gem…no good can come of her being here on Earth…"

* * *

 _Hope you enjoyed!_


	5. Chapter 5

_I Don't Know _

"Do you have any _idea_ what you've done?!"

Peridot was pacing again, her shoulders heaving sporadically and her eyes twitching beneath the razing glare of her visor.  
Admittedly, the green gem had done a more than admirable job repairing the ship, particularly considering that she had been working alone.

However, truth be told, Kimberlite was only basing this observation on the fact that the ship's control deck looked almost as pristine as it had when they had first, (covertly), boarded. Honestly speaking, the metamorphic gem had never seen a team of engineers or mechanics work on anything much bigger than a communications desk.

"It did not harm me, Peridot. It was only an epidermal piece of diamond. It wasn't fully formed and it did not do any damage to my-…"

"I told you to _stay_ in the _ship_! I thought the Kimberlite was supposed to be ever-obedient! HAH!" Peridot suddenly barked with near hysterical laughter. "Instead of simply following my _very easily comprehended_ instructions, you see fit to not only venture into dangerous, unknown territory but also to interact with a _human being!"_

The green gem's mechanical fingers suddenly became entangled in her hair, her pupils turning to pinpricks as the weight of her unwitting charge's actions seemed to finally dawn on her. "And then you…y-you…gave…it...part of your gem."

"It was only a very small piece…"

"It was a _diamond shard_. A diamond shard as in property of the Diamond Authority! Your whole gem is property of the Diamond Authority! And you gave their property to a human! Do you know what Blue Diamond would say if she found out that you gave her property to a human being?!"

"...well, honestly speaking, I am not su-…"

"She'd say she's gonna smash herself a Peridot that's what she'd say! Gah!"

Peridot threw her arms upward, letting them haphazardly come down over her head- limb enhancers and all- as she let out a long groan of anxiety.  
Kimberlite had always been taught not to make loud exclamations of emotion as this was considered a very uncouth habit to carry in Blue Diamond's court.  
That didn't change the fact that the currently felt about as fearful as Peridot did.

Fearful and guilty to the very core of her being.

Peridots were always so cool and calculated; it was extremely difficult to watch one of them come completely undone.

"She will not know," Kimberlite assured Peridot, deciding the time for selfish ventures were long over. "We can return to Homeworld immediately. With the time difference, no one will have even noticed that we were gone and no one will be around to watch us dock the ship back in the hangar."

Slowly and with a greater deal of control than before, the green gem eventually responded: "That's just it. That's why I went looking for you originally. The ship's been artificially repaired but the main power gem is completely decimated…"

Kimberlite stared at her companion for a moment, feeling quite stupid as she responded: "So…how are we going to restore it. What must we do?"

Peridot 's hands slowly fell to her sides, her fingers following suit and her eyes growing increasingly hollow. "What _I_ must do is find some means of replacing the ship's power gem." She heaved a sigh, bringing up her familiar screen. "What you must do is remain here and out of sight. Where it's safe."

"No…I…I want to help," Kimberlite insisted, admittedly wracking her brain for a solution to Peridot's despair, (that she had indirectly caused), moreso than trying to figure out a solution for their marooning. "There must be some way we can find a replacement gem."

"There might be one way," the engineer replied rather gravely after a slightly longer-than-normal silence. "It's no coincidence that we crashed here. The ship's navigation system was compromised by a high concentration of Gem technology in this area."

 _Gem tech?_

Come to think of it, Sadie had mentioned something or other about the presence of other gems on Earth. Her words echoed distantly in the cloudier recesses of her mind. The, (quite admittedly enchanting), human seemed to have some level of acquaintance with Gemkind. True, this was not unusual for other species as Gems were a greatly travelled and proficiently space-faring race but…Earth was not a completed colony.  
Gemkind hadn't existed on Earth for over a thousand years- as Peridot had seen fit to remind her multiple times during their trip.

The only other occupant of the ship suddenly didn't seem so sure of this anymore.

"It was bound to happen," Peridot was now muttering to herself as she paced the length of the flight deck. "Nothing to fear. Nothing to fret over. Just some leftover, primitive junk from the old Kindergarten that's somehow still receiving charge…" She drummed her mechanical fingers along the edge of the work counter. "We could possibly use some of that tech to give us a jump start. Gah! But without the ship's scanners to sync with mine, I have no idea how to locate the star-forsaken place!"

Kimberlite habitually fiddled with the belt of her chiton, trying desperately to recall what her human rescuer had said. She could vaguely recall the mention of some types of Gems, (and something called a Steven), but frustratingly nothing specific.  
She wished she could remember the context for Sadie's remarks but embarrassingly, Kimberlite could not.

The metamorphic Gem then found herself revisiting the hazy, draped-in-warmth memory of her last conversation with the human.  
She found something so enchanting about simply watching Sadie speak and hearing her voice. After only a few moments of studying her face during her monologue, Kimberlite had fallen quite deaf to what she was actually saying.  
There was a beautifully bashful manner to the way that she talked. The words tumbled from her lips at an astonishing speed and the tiny slips of breath that she caught between sentences were done with a kind of unknowing skill.

She spoke remarkably fast and from time to time, her sweet soft voice would take on an anxious, breath-starved tremor. This gave the human's voice a beautiful, natural timbre; there was nothing artificial or learned-off about her speech. She was genuine.  
Formed rather than created.  
Acting on emotion rather than duty.

The trembling and slurring at the corners of her words faintly reminded Kimberlite of watching one of the newly trained dancers at Blue Diamond's court. There was a kind of uncertainty about her. At times, Kimberlite would want to reach out, take her hand and rescue her from her own anxiety though something inside the Gem told her that she wouldn't need or accept the help.  
Watching Sadie speak was like watching one of these dancers perform: the audience was moved by fear, worried that she could slip and fall at any moment. Yet this was part of the intrigue that made her so exciting to watch.

Humans didn't speak like Gems either.  
And certainly nothing like the serving Gems or aristocratic Gems that Kimberlite was used to overhearing.  
Her idiosyncrasies and phrasings were another world of whimsy entirely.

Then there was the mental invasion that her appearance provided.  
Her eyes glinted with each undulation of her brow, reminding her of the manner that her Blue Diamond's favourite Zircon's gem would under the lights of the Skyline Pavillion.  
Her cheeks were constantly flushed with that delightful Quartz-like pinkish colour, misted over the delicate pallor of one of White Diamond's Pearls.

The inner chambers of her mouth were dry at the memory of Sadie's skin brushing against hers; though it bore the pristine pallor of any courtly Gem, her skin was soft and warm.

"…Sadie," Kimberlite dared to murmur her name aloud.

She thought that she had been quiet but Peridot's head immediately whipped around. "What did you say?"

"Uh…Sadie! Sadie, the human I was with," Kimberlite responded quickly. "She mentioned something about gems here on Earth…maybe she's been to the Kindergarten. Maybe she knows where it is?"

Peridot gave a bark of laughter. "Oh my stars, it's actually happening! You're succumbing to the insanity that this desperate planet's atmosphere practically breeds! You want to entrust both my fate and yours to a simple-minded, organic lifeform with no more probable experience with our technology than…well… _you_?"

Kimberlite folded her arms, a small vein of molten anger starting to trickle forth from beneath the frigid recesses of her usual, complacent tundra; she was starting to dislike being assumed to be incompetent.  
"I am only suggesting this," she responded slowly and as coolly as she could manage. "If you have no better ideas."

Peridot _did_ have quite a few ideas, incidently.  
However, the more the two of them spoke and conferred and planned and blueprinted, the more they realised just how futile their situation seemed.

The green gem was forced to dissipate her visor in order to gain proper access to her tired eyes, rubbing them profusely and massaging the area around her gem with confusion with her mechanical fingers.  
"I cannot believe I'm about to say this," Peridot exhaled, her voice ragged as her eyes looked upward. "May the Diamonds forgive me. If we were to seek out this human…this _Sadie_ …could you manage to convince it to help us locate the Kindergarten?" Her teeth gritted slightly. "Making it clear that the only reason we are seeking assistance is because the external scanning units are offline?"

Kimberlite all but fell to the floor, her legs instantly weak at the notion of getting to see Sadie again.  
"Yes…yes, I think I could."

"Very well," Peridot eventually conceded, attempting to maintain her cool exterior despite her obvious trepidation. "I will return to the area in which I happened upon you and the Sadie. Should I encounter any kind of-…"

"Actually, if you please, Peridot," Kimberlite interrupted, overtaken with a contradictory mixture of hesitation and urgency. "I think it would be more fitting if I were to be the one to retrieve Sadie."

"You _what_?" The smaller gem gawped at her with shameless disbelief. "Have you been listening to _anything_ that I've been saying!? Oh stars, no. Not in all the galaxies! There is no way that I am letting you outside of this ship again!"

"We need to coax the Sadie to help us. She did not strike me as the type of individual who would benefit from forceful coercion and the last time you encountered her, you were pointing a blaster at her head!"

"In _your_ protection, might I remind you!"

Their clumsy, quasi-aggressive back-and-forth began again, becoming increasingly heated and derailed from the original disagreement. It all eventually cumulated in Peridot finally breaking.

"Fine! _Fine!_ But if you get hurt in any way, shape or form, I want there to be evidence that I had no willing part in this!"

Peridot was only willing to let her leave when she had successfully implanted a surveillance device in Kimberlite's aural cavity, effectively allowing her to detect if the transfusion gem found herself in any kind of, (what the engineer would perceive as), danger.

Kimberlite pressed the small, metallic receiver against her pinna, pinching it down and wincing at the sensation. It didn't feel particularly comfortable or secure but as always, if it meant another chance to explore she was willing to put up with the most disagreeable of stimuli.

"A demi-cycle," she murmured to herself as she made her way to the release hatch. "That's five Earth rotations…" She stopped in her tracks, her fingers lingering on the smooth, Celestine-forged walls that kept the unwitting crew safe from the alien world that surrounded them. "Peridot?"

"Yes…my Kimberlite."  
Her tone was starched with politeness, stiff and cold.  
Perhaps she was trying to instil some normality in their situation by reminding them both of their caste division; despite the gentility of her voice, Kimberlite didn't imagine the small quaking at the point where her projected knees met her limb-enhancers.

"I…" She hesitated before finally answering the question that burned behind her lips. "What will become of us if Sadie cannot help us? We have no way to contact Homeworld to send a tracker or receiver…but perhaps they could track the ship?"

"I disabled the tracking tech before we left Homeworld." Peridot's back was turned to Kimberlite but the courtly gem could just about hear the faintest ghost of a sardonic smile. "It was to ensure that we wouldn't be found out…"

"So…what will happen if the Sadie cannot help us?"

At this point, she heard the words that she never thought she'd hear a Peridot say.  
And it scared her to the core.

"I don't know."

* * *

 _The Strawberry _

Steven's flip-flops slapped rhythmically against his heels as he jogged up the grassy path, the familiar, gritty spray of sand flicking up against the soles of his feet.

"Hey Garnet!" he called out, quasi-breathlessly as he scrambled over to where the mystifying gem was sitting. He had been doing a lot of running today.  
He plopped himself down beside her, habitually resting his head against one of her long, strong arms as he unzipped his hot-dog duffle bag. "Amethyst said you wanted to talk to me."

"Mhmm," Garnet murmured, her unseen, tri-coloured gaze slowly sliding sideways to survey the little half-human. "I was finished telling her about the Kimberlite. I thought it was about time I told you too. Pearl disagrees- she thinks it's unnecessary- but as far as I'm concerned, there's no point in keeping you in the dark."

"How come Amethyst didn't know anything about Kimberlite?" the child quizzed her, rummaging around the bag and letting out a small whoop of triumph as he pulled forth his desired Tupperware box.

"It's kind of a Homeworld gem thing."

"Uh-huh. And why couldn't you just tell me and Amethyst about it together?"

Garnet smiled fondly, ruffling his curls and chuckling slightly. "Because you know as well as I do that you two together don't make the most attentive of combinations. Pearl told me about the time she tried to teach the two of you about Homeworld Congregation Balls… _and_ the paper airplane incident."

Steven couldn't help but give a guilty chortle. "Uh…yeah…good point…" He started to busy himself with prising the plastic lid from the box. "So what _is_ Kimberlite anyway? She's a gem like all of you, right?"

"She's a gem alright," Garnet confirmed, lightly coaxing the Tupperware from Steven and removing the lid herself. "But she's not like us. Or you. Most gems are specially created for a specific purpose in Homeworld society, like Ruby or naturally cultivated and later assigned a particular role based on their abilities, like Sapphire…"

"And some gems are really cool fusions of both, like Garnet…"  
Steven smiled toothily up at his guardian, gratefully accepting the box in return.

Garnet's smile became wider and she nodded. "Yes, those really cool gems exist too." Her expression became a little more serious. "But Kimberlite wasn't made to serve Homeworld as a whole. She was made to serve the Diamond Authority specifically. There was only one of her ever made and some gems even consider her a Homeworld urban myth because she's always kept out of sight."

"Did you ever think she was a myth?"

"No. She was being kept in Blue Diamond's Temple. Sapphire met her once before."

"Yeah?"  
Steven fished a strawberry out of the box, expertly tweezing away the green gristle with his fingers.

"Yes. But that story isn't important right now. What's important is that you understand that the Diamonds would never willingly let Kimberlite out of their sights. And they'd especially, _especially_ never let her travel from Homeworld without their supervision. Meaning that if she's here…"

Steven gasped in realisation sitting bolt upright, strawberry pulp dribbling from the corners of his mouth. "The Diamonds must be here too!"

"Or just one Diamond," Garnet corrected him, taking the opportunity to wipe away the scarlet slivers from his chin. "Or they don't know that she's here at all. Either way, where the Kimberlite goes, the Diamonds are never far behind. Or Blue Diamond at the very least."

"Oh…so it can't be good that Kimberlite is here, huh?"  
Steven sighed, shrugging slowly and looking downward as his strawberry bullion. His previously felt excitement surrounding the idea of meeting another gem, (especially one that Sadie had praised so highly), was quickly starting to dampen.

Garnet shook her head. "Pearl didn't want to scare you…but I think you need to understand that the longer Kimberlite stays on this planet, the more danger we're all in."

"…do you want a strawberry?"

"I'm good, thanks."

"Hey Garnet? Why is Kimberlite so important to the Diamonds anyway?"

"She's their personal transfusion gem," the tall gem explained, turning her gaze down to the boy at her side. "Kimberlite is a type of rock that can be used to grow other gems inside of it. Given the right minerals, she can grow specially fashioned pieces of diamond in her gem, so if one of the Diamonds ever became cracked beyond repair, she could grow replacement shards. These shards would be customised to fit the exact gemetic requirements of any of the Diamonds." Garnet heaved a gravelly sigh. "So she's the Diamonds failsafe; if any of them are ever damaged, they'll use her to repair themselves." She looked back out towards the ocean. "And in an extreme situation, if one of the Diamonds is smashed entirely…they'll use Kimberlite's gem to grow a clone of that Diamond."

Unseen by Steven, one of Garnet's hands clenched into a fist. "As long as Kimberlite exists, the Diamond Authority can never truly be defeated."

"So she's like a strawberry," Steven said slowly, lifting one of the soft little fruits between his fingers. The setting sun glazed its vermillion sides with a soft amber sheen. "This is her gem and the little seeds are the Diamonds that can grow inside her gem. And then if one of the Diamonds die, she'll take one of these little seeds and it can grow into a Diamond. Is that it?"

Garnet couldn't help but give a little snort of amusement at her youngest charge's simple and innocent illustration. "Yes. That's exactly it."

The two sat in silence for a moment.  
Their silence was neither completely complacent nor completely uneasy.  
It just simply was.

Steven had learned in his fairly short life-time that there was something invaluable about finding someone that you could simply sit in silence with.  
Someone who wouldn't force you to talk.  
Someone who wouldn't force you to listen.  
They would simply and happily sit with you in complete, contemplative silence.

The half-human boy found himself prompted to speak by a sudden thought:  
"So have we got to find Kimberlite now? Or…or would it be better to just wait and see? Maybe she really is here without the Diamonds' knowing…and maybe she's not all that bad?" Steven looked at the strawberry in his palm, licking it experimentally before adding: "Sadie seemed to think she was pretty cool."

"Sadie's judge of character or not," Garnet replied, unfolding her long legs and stretching out against the grass. "If they've found their way into Beach City, our best option is probably to find Kimberlite and this Peridot of hers before either of them can cause any trouble to any of the locals."

"Yeah, I guess…what are we going to do when we find them?"

"Something tells me," Garnet murmured vaguely as she stood up in the grass. "That she's going to somehow find us first."

His question unanswered, Steven was about to repeat it, only to be interrupted by the gem towering at his side.

"You'd better pack up. We should head inside. There's going to be a storm tonight."

Steven blinked in confusion, studying the skyline for a moment. "But there's no clouds."

"Trust me on this one," Garnet coaxed with an invisible wink, beckoning for him to follow her. "We'd better make sure Peridot comes inside with us too. We don't want her crawling up the walls again…"

"Yeah," Steven agreed with a smile, hurrying into step after her. He could feel that his lips were sticky with strawberry juice but his mouth was suddenly quite dry.

It wasn't like Garnet not to answer one of his questions.

* * *

 _Tempest_

Her hands plunged back into the bucket, her knuckles burning from the slightly-too-hot temperature of the water that surrounded them. Maybe she should have added another dollop of cold water but that would mean lugging the bucket back to the employee wash room and completing the nigh impossible task of lifting the half-full bucket back under a faucet without dousing herself in water.  
(Again).

The manager had noticed some coffee stains on the floor and practically flipped his lid. Lars, of course, had insisted that it had nothing to do with the two skittish Upper East Side beach-rabbits that had decided to traipse all over the restaurant with their overflowing cups of hot chocolate.  
He also definitely hadn't given them a free refill.  
Or two free refills.  
At all.

Sadie had gotten tired of continually rolling her sleeves up so she'd switched back to her t-shirt polo. However as the wind had picked up outside, one of the loose windows had swung open and suddenly the curse of wet sleeves seemed a far lesser evil when compared to the plague of painful, purple goosebumps.

Lars had taken the opportunity to mention to their manager that Sadie had brought a rather odd visitor into the Big Doughnut that morning. He had taken special care to specifically comment on the coffee that she had accidentally knocked on to the floor but somehow had left out the part involving Sadie having saved this woman from drowning.

Sadie's fingertips were so pruny that the soft, puckering ridges of skin were starting to grow sore and her fingernails were so whittled and waned, she wouldn't have been surprised if one of them peeled off entirely. Her actual fingers were reddish and swollen from the constant scrubbing; coffee stains were one of the worst things in existence, she had long decided.  
She plunged her hands into the bucket once again, shuddering at the brief relief from the cold that the hot water provided.

Of course, the manager had chosen to interview them separately so Lars had the perfect opportunity to swear to her that he hadn't mentioned the stranger at all. But the CCTV system in the shop had been busted for weeks and there were only _two_ employees for crying out loud. If he hadn't snitched on her, then who had?  
Honestly, sometimes Sadie would swear that Lars thought she was stupid or at least worryingly gullible.

The sky was dark outside, early even February.  
Despite the weather having been nothing short of tranquil, was now serving as a prologue to an impending storm.  
Every now and then, a gust of frigid wind would shoot through the open slit in the loose window. She didn't look upon it as tortuously as she had just a few minutes ago.

First of all, scrubbing a floor was a more appealing fate than a pay-cut.  
Secondly, the wind was consistent.  
It would be there. It would be gone. It would come again. It would go again.  
Regardless of what happened, it would always come back.  
She just didn't want to think about walking home in it.

"Call me if you need a ride home," her mom had said, but her mom had endured a rough day of deliveries and would be waking up in just a few hours to another one. Sadie didn't have the heart to call her now, foolish as that might have been.

Finishing up her penalty task and making her way over to start turning off the lights, she noticed that there was a slight gap in the clouds through which you could see a small smattering of stars.  
No shooting stars but Sadie still found herself making a wish.

Steven hadn't known anything about Kimberlite being in Beach City and he seemed pretty sure that the Peridot who had been with her wasn't the same Peridot who lived with them.  
She sighed deeply, bracing herself for the elements as she made her way out the door- having to wrestle with the back-door in order to seal it shut.

That wind that had been so consistently reassuring was now trying its best to steal the breath from her lungs and swipe her legs right out from under her.  
She was only beginning to regret her decision not to take her mother's offer when the rain had started seeping upward through the soles of her shoes but full-blown self-cursing didn't set in until the oblique droplets were making it near-impossible for her to see the barely-lamp-lit path ahead.

At one point, she had decided that this was becoming too much and reached into her knapsack in a clumsy, vain attempt to draw forth something to shield her vision.  
This was when she fell.

Sadie met the slicked pavement with a painful thud, instantly greeted by a searing pain in her wrists and a burning sensation upon her chin.  
Wet, cold and now in pain, the human woman had finally been pushed to being ready to scream her disdain into the howling gales.

However, just then, the rain stopped entirely.  
Struggling to stand to her feet, Sadie looked around in confusion.  
Rain still appeared to be falling on the street all around her.  
Why not directly above her own head?

To her absolute confusion, there appeared to be some kind of pea-soup green gauze directly over her head.

"Hello, Sadie."

She turned around quickly, only to see a familiar face standing behind her.  
There, shielding them both from the rain with long, grey hair stuck across her face and her hand apparently controlling the odd barrier that was keeping them both partially dry, was a very happy looking gem.

"K-Kimberlite?"

The gem smiled widely, elation in her eyes as she offered the human her hand. "I was hoping that I would find you again."

"Oh yeah?" Sadie managed, gratefully accepting the help as she steadied herself. "Me too, actually…"

She could feel her face getting a little hotter as Kimberlite, drew her further under the barrier and started to walk with her.  
This time, she was a little less willing than she might have been to blame her suddenly feverish condition on the rain.

* * *

 _Thank you so much for reading, reviewing, following and favouriting._

I was so nervous about putting this one up but it's nice to know that people are actually enjoying it!


	6. Chapter 6

**Sugar**

"So this kind of chaotic sky dance is a common occurrence here on Earth?"

Kimberlite insisted on walking her all the way back to her house and a little uncharacteristically, Sadie had accepted the help. Sure, she didn't want to inconvenience her newfound friend but the tall woman's little magic umbrella trick was a very welcome addition to what would have been quite a wet walk home.

"Sky dance?" the human woman echoed, looking skyward with a chuckle and admiring the way the crystalline beads spattered down upon the sparkling roof above her head and trickled down over the sides. "Yeah, I guess you could call it that. Sounds better than a "squall" anyway."

A high-up burst of lightning and a distant roll of thunder caused Kimberlite to jump slightly, nervousness evident in her eyes as much as her curiosity.

"Hey, it's ok. That's not gonna hurt us," Sadie assured the gem softly, lifting her own hand and placing it on Kimberlite's upper arm.  
She noticed immediately that Kimberlite was shaking a little and immediately felt obliged to give her arm a gentle squeeze.  
In response to the gesture, the gem's round, marble-flecked eyes swivelled downward to look at the human at her side.

Their eyes met and Sadie felt her heart beat pick up, her tongue suddenly feeling too big for her mouth.  
"Uh…sorry."

She moved to lift her hand away only to have Kimberlite gently return it to its original perch, upon the taller's elbow.  
The gem was smiling.  
"No, please don't be. You make me feel very safe."

"…no problem."

"So this is called a "squall?" The water falling from the clouds in the sky? And the lights and the sound?"

"Yeah…or a "storm" would be the normal word for it, I guess."

"A storm," her walking companion echoed, apparently trying the word out on her tongue. "Fascinating."

"…you don't have these where you're from?"

Sadie was immediately reminded that Kimberlite wasn't actually from their world. She was a member of the gem race that Steven's family were.  
It wasn't unfounded that none of Steven's family would have ever met her before- after all, not every human was obligated to have met or know of every other human. It was worth noting though, that more of the gems were appearing in Beach City. 

Sadie briefly wondered if gems inhabited any other parts of the planet Earth.  
Or maybe it was all exclusive to their dear little seaside village of weirdness. 

Ronaldo was going to have a field day with all of this, she couldn't help but think, slightly bemused at the thought.

"We have clouds of gas…and we have naturally forming water…but our atmosphere doesn't allow for this kind of precipitation. I suppose we do have storms but they are not quite as lovely as yours."

"Not as lovely?" Sadie commented with a chuckle. "What's worse than getting soaked by a shower of cold water every one to two days?"

"Almost being crushed by a shower of rocks every one to two weeks," Kimberlite replied, unable to restrain a rather nervous giggle of her own. "Our atmosphere is prone to the occasional meteor shower."

"O-Oh?!" the human almost tripped over her own sneakers at this revelation, anxious laughter finally permeating her lips. "Well, I guess by comparison, a little bit of thunder and lightning isn't too bad. Giant rocks falling from the sky at random actually sounds…pretty terrifying actually."

Sadie's hand was still resting upon Kimberlite's arm.  
She contemplated lifting it.  
She didn't.

The gem shrugged. "We've got a good means of predicting them and we've got shields and defence systems in place. It's really just an inconvenience."

A fibrous strand of lightning shot downward from the heavens, illuminating the sky in the far distance and draping the rooftops in a partially beauteous, partially ominous spotlight.

Kimberlite shuddered again and again, Sadie squeezed her upper arm.  
The gem looked down at her, her smile wide and soft once more.

"I apologise for my skittishness."  
"Nah, don't. I used to hide under my bed during storms when I was a kid."  
"Natural electricity is rather beautiful, actually. Your sky must be very clever to generate its own electricity."  
"Heh…I never looked at it that way. I guess you're right. Nice uh…" Sadie gestured to the bizarre energy bubble that surrounded them. "…uh…thing you've got there by the way."  
"Oh, thank you. All gems can do this….mine are not always so strong but they keep the water out…"

They reached Sadie's house, a few minutes of conversation later. 

"Thanks for walking me back, Kim," she bade her, (after all she had told her to call her that, _right_ ?) , looking from the gem to the thoroughly drenched street and frowning. "Hey, I know it's late but do you wanna come inside until this storm passes?"

"I…do not want to be a burden upon you. You appear rather tired, if you do not mind me saying."

"Do you have to walk very far?"

"Mmm," Kimberlite turned around slightly, pointing over at the forested area that went just beyond the farthest inlet of beach. "Just to there."

Sadie's eyes widened. "You are _not_ walking back that far." The human woman considered for a moment that the last time Kimberlite had gone wandering around Beach City, she had ended up falling into the sea. "Look, it's no trouble at all. Come inside. You can stay over here for the night and then I'll walk you back to the seafront on the way to work tomorrow."

Kimberlite looked hesitantly at her for a few seconds, her gaze switching to the gap in the open door at Sadie's back. Eventually, she nodded in agreement, doing the odd little bowing thing that she'd done in the Big Doughnut before following her inside.

"I hope you don't mind but we'll have to be quiet. My mom is probably asleep-ah!" Sadie had to clap a hand over her own mouth to stop herself from yelping aloud when her knee decided to become thoroughly intimate with a stack of packages left in the hallway. "Oh and watch your step. Looks like mom took some work home with her…these are probably undelivered…people around here have really small mailboxes so if they're not home, she can't deliver them…"

As Sadie had noticed before on the sand, despite Kimberlite's graceful bodyline, her movements were clumsy and sporadic. Almost as though she wasn't accustomed to walking on uneven surfaces.

True to Sadie's wishes, Kimberlite kept quiet and did not speak again until they were in the kitchen, her voice in notably hushed tones: "Please. What is the "mom" you keep talking about? Why must we fear disturbing her?" She lowered her voice further, almost to a whisper. "Is she your superior?"

"My superior? What? No," Sadie said with a smile, dragging up a chair and gesturing for Kimberlite to have a seat. "No…my mom is-…" She hovered on the thought for a moment, realising that she was about to explain the concept of motherhood to an alien that very clearly had no context for the idea. "Well, my mom is part of my family, y'know?"

"Family? Ah, you and she are made from the same components…similar materials...this is why you associate with each other?"

"Not just that," the blonde woman went on, flicking on some more of the kitchen lights and rooting out two mugs from one of the cupboards. "My mom takes care of me…she teaches me…" Sadie paused for a moment, taking into consideration how much or how little Kimberlite actually knew about human biology. "…she kind of _created_ me."

"Oh…"  
Kimberlite nodded slowly, leaning on the table, her long hair hanging over her shoulders like a shawl.

"Do…gems have moms?" Sadie asked, flicking the kettle on and taking an opportunity to shrug off her rather drenched coat.

"I can't respond on behalf of all gems but I think I do," Kimberlite responded, her voice soft and contemplative. "I think I have a mom but on my planet, she is called Blue Diamond. She is my caretaker and it was by her hand that I was created."

"Do you miss her?" Sadie felt the need to say, noticing that her house-guest had become slightly melancholy.

"No," was Kimberlite's simple and unwavering reply, though her chin was now resting upon her hands, her entire body slightly slumped over the table.

Sadie fell silent for a moment, feeling slightly awkward for having brought up what seemed to be quite a sensitive topic before finally deciding to follow up by saying: "I bet she misses you."

"She doesn't know that I'm gone," the gem told her, looking up with a rather wry smile. "I'm taking this little detour to Earth without her knowledge." There was a distinctly mischievous glint in her eye as she looked up at the human. "With any luck she'll never know I was even here."

That tiny, barely placeable look of coyness in the gem's eyes was enough to make Sadie very aware of her own breathing.  
She had never been so grateful to hear the click of the kettle at her back, giving her the fortuitous opportunity to turn around to collect herself.

"You're definitely a little braver than me, anyway. I only ran away from home once and I'm pretty sure I came back about an hour later. What brings you to Earth, anyway? Like, is it a prime tourist destination or something?"

"Earth used to be a gem colony but gem occupation ended thousands of years ago…but I'd heard rumours that any gem who comes to Earth changes completely. She either turns completely against everything she knew or her faith in her path in life is completely renewed and she's one hundred percent more dedicated to her cause."

"So this is like a soul-searching kind of thing for you?"

"Soul-searching? Yes, I suppose so. Have you ever done any "soul-searching", Sadie?"

"I don't think I've ever really felt the need to. I mean, I guess I've always been pretty happy here." She glanced over her shoulder. "Tea or coffee?"

Kimberlite's head perked up, her eyes suddenly on the ceramic mugs that Sadie had placed upon the counter. "Pardon?"

"To drink. Would you like tea or coffee? I think we might have hot chocolate too but not a lot, so it wouldn't be strong or anything."

The gem was quiet for a moment before sitting back in the chair, looking a little embarrassed. "I don't know what those things are."

"That's ok. Sorry, I forgot you're not from around here," Sadie smiled to assure her. "They're all warm drinks. Coffee is the stuff that I gave you yesterday at the Big Doughnut."

"Ah, the black liquid? I shall sample some of that then. It smelled pleasant."

Sadie was in the process of explaining her mother's job to Kimberlite, seated across from her at the kitchen table and tentatively sipping at her mug of coffee, when she noticed that the gem hadn't touched her own mug at all.

"Something wrong with the coffee? Too hot? Do you want some milk maybe? That'll cool it down."

Kimberlite shook her head, scratching her temple bemusedly. "It's just…uh…I'm not quite sure how to go about consuming this liquid. I've been watching you for some time now and I can't figure it out. When you put it into your mouth, where does it disappear to?"

"I just swallow it."

"Swallow?"

"Yeah, like this. Watch." Sadie pulled aside the collar of her polo shirt to allow Kimberlite to see the motions in her throat, only to have the gem crane her neck, eyes widening in surprise.

"I do not think that I can do that. You seem to have some kind of connecting orifice at the back of your mouth."

"…yeah…don't you?"

The gem opened her mouth, allowing Sadie to see something quite alarming.

While Kimberlite possessed two full rows of teeth and an ordinary, (if not slightly green-tinged), tongue- all of the necessary oral components to produce normal speech, the back of her mouth was nothing short of anomalous.  
The area where her soft palette should have given way to an oesophagus, there was simply a wall of flesh.

"But how do you eat? Or drink?"

Despite her surprise, with the kind of bizarre things that Sadie was used to experiencing in and around Beach City, she wouldn't have been all that shocked if Kimberlite had said something along the lines of "osmosis."

"Gems do not need to consume matter in order to gain energy like organic beings."

Sadie had a sudden, contradictory mental image of Amethyst cramming seventeen cream-filled doughnuts into her mouth, (Steven cheering her on in the background), and it took her a second or two to realise that " _need_ " was the key-word in that sentence.

"So you probably don't need to breathe either," Sadie noted, looking at Kimberlite's nostrils and realising that given this anatomical revelation, the orifices were probably completely vestigial.

(Suddenly Amethyst's impressive feat made a lot of sense when one took into consideration that she didn't need to stop to breathe even if the actual mechanics of the act remained a mystery.)

"No. Not at all," her house-guest assured her, tapping the bridge of her nose where the long appendage started to curve into a slight hook. "I _can_ breathe through my nasal cavities if I choose to but mostly, I only do it to perceive scent."

"Huh, no kidding?" Sadie recoiled a little, becoming very aware that she had scooted her chair around and was now, a lot closer to Kimberlite than she'd been before.  
In fact, if she were to turn her head only slightly, the human woman's cheek would easily brush against the gem's.

Kimberlite herself, however, didn't seem to mind the proximity at all.

"Every part of me, that you see here," she told her hostess, gesturing to her long, tapering face. "Is only a projection."  
Her shoulder nudged slightly against Sadie's head, reminding her of their rather noteworthy height difference, as she lifted her long arm and jabbed the black, strappy, pouch with a finger. "This is me. Underneath the gem guard."

"I…I think I understand," Sadie said with a nod, contemplating what exactly this indicated that _Steven_ was. "Sorry about pulling off your, uh, guard, there. That time at the Big Doughnut. I didn't know that it was so important." She tilted her head a little, examining the rather bulky attachment. "None of the other gems that I know wear one of these."

Kimberlite's shoulders slumped very little, her brows arching a little. "Very few gems actually do. I have to keep mine wrapped up because…well…if I am injured…I am not the only one who will be hurt, so to speak…"

Noticing that she was suddenly becoming quite sad, Sadie quickly interjected. "Hey, it's ok. My mom is kind of protective of me too. I know that it's kinda stressful with someone always hovering over but it always comes from a good place, right?" She smiled, adding comfortingly: "And like I said outside, nothing's gonna hurt you here."

Kimberlite looked down at Sadie for a moment with that slightly forlorn look that seemed to instantly douse her skin in a tingling warmth. "Do you promise that?"

"Yeah, of course," Sadie told her earnestly, her heart rate picking up again when the gem's melancholy stare was replaced with the same mischievous sparkle as before.

"In that such case…"  
Sadie watched as Kimberlite pulled away the protective band, revealing the long, luminescent lozenge that stretched from her wrist to the inner curve of her elbow.

"So this is you?" Sadie queried, her eyes tracing the gem.

"Yes," was Kimberlite's simple and rather shy reply as lifted her arm up a little more so that Sadie could inspect her more thoroughly. "In all my glory."  
The kimberlite stone itself was every bit as mesmerising as she had originally remembered it, its pale green surface, flecked with dots and dashes of vibrant, metallic silver and speckled with dots of gold.

"You're…really beautiful," the human said before she could stop herself.  
"Thank you, Sadie," the gem responded, sounding surprised and adding in a much less flustered tone: "There are hundreds of more beautiful gems than I. Ones made specifically to be beautiful. I'm functional but I was never intended to look striking. I don't need to be, I suppose. Blue Diamond rarely lets me sit in her public court." She sighed a little before smiling gently as she looked down at Sadie. "And I've seen humans that are more beautiful than I too."

"W-Well," Sadie coughed, feeling as though her skin would be as hot-to-the-touch as a gas stove at this point. "Looks are kinda subjective, right? I meant to ask you before we got side-tracked, do you wanna use the phone?"

Changing the subject was good, Sadie Miller decided.  
Changing the subject was vitally, entirely, necessarily good.

"The…phone?"

"Yeah, to call someone to let them know where you are. Your friend from yesterday seems a little protective of you, if you don't mind me saying."

"Oh, a form of communication? No, thank you. That is not necessary. She knows where I am." 

Kimberlite's eyes returned to the coffee in front of her, inspecting it curiously again. 

"Uh, do you want me to get rid of that for you?"  
"No…I want to try something…" 

The gem studied Sadie's grip on her own porcelain mug and looped her own rather spindly, fingers around the handle, mimicking the human's actions.  
She lifted her arm, coffee swashing turbulently around the porcelain rim as it neared the gem's lips.

Kimberlite hesitated for a moment, studying the liquid fearfully as her gaze darted back and forth between her own mug and Sadie's.

Wanting to help her somehow, the pale blonde haired woman extended her tongue from her lips and delicately lapped at the hot drink.  
Catching her "mentor's" eyes and smiling faintly, Kimberlite slowly poked out her own tongue, (an odd but not quite ugly, mottled purple and green), and gingerly flicked the tip against the pool of black.

"Oh!"

She recoiled, almost dropping the mug and letting out an exclamation that prompted a slight giggle from Sadie.

"So you cantaste?"

"To perceive scent, yes." Kimberlite shuddered, shaking from her head to her waist.

"How d'ya find it?"

"Bitter. Strong. A little overbearing. Like oil…or iron supplement…or maybe zinc…" A smile suddenly broke out her face. "It doesn't taste all that bad though."

"If it's too bitter, you could always sweeten it up a bit," Sadie informed her, pushing the sugar bowl in her direction, the slightly chipped china clinking as it moved. "This is called sugar."

"My stars," Kimberlite breathed, leaning closer to the crudely carved crucible with mounting wonder. "These are tiny crystals."

"Kinda, we use them to add a kind of sweet flavour to things."

"Sweet? What is sweet?"

"Uhh, the opposite of bitter. You've never heard of sweet, at all? You know it's like…" Sadie paused for a moment, at an apparent loss to explain the concept of sweetness to a being that did not normally eat. "…uh, good….nice…pleasant? Here, try some."

Sadie scooped up a bare snowfall of the sugar granules on to her fingers, originally intending to model the action for Kimberlite however swiftly and suddenly, the gem quite misinterpreted the action.  
She took a hold of the human's wrist, her grip surprisingly firm but gentle as she very lightly dragged her tongue across Sadie's fingers.

Now it was Sadie's turn to shudder violently.  
Kimberlite's tongue was a lot colder than what a human tongue normally would feel like.  
Like most things about the gem: it wasn't unpleasant- just different.

Sadie felt her lips part, perhaps to say something corrective but the sudden gleam in Kimberlite's eyes silenced her.

Her face was positively alit with almost comical surprise, prompting an instant giggle from the human.

"How's it taste?"

Kimberlite clasped Sadie's hand with sheer, undeniable glee, laughing melodically too. "Absolutely wonderful. Like it's trying to embrace me."

Something close to electricity shot up from her navel to the north of her body, waves of warmth rolling southward too.  
It was at this point that Sadie first noticed , (or rather _chose_ to notice), that her sleeve was still wringing wet, the material suddenly uncomfortably cold against her now very-temperate skin.

"Oh, wow," she stammered. "I'm soaking wet…and you're soaking wet…uh, I mean, our clothes are really damp…from the rain! We need to shower! Uh, _I_ need to shower and _you_ need to shower. Separately."

Sadie immediately got to her feet, feeling that it was important that Kimberlite couldn't see how red her face was.  
"I've got an ensuite in my bedroom. Here I'll show you…"

She swallowed off the remainder of her coffee before leading her house guest downstairs.  
Relief settled over her when she felt a sudden wave of comforting heat, reminding her that she had remembered to set the electric heating timer before she'd left for work.

Kimberlite seemed to have an immediate fascination with everything from the carpeted floor of Sadie's bedroom to the colour of the walls.  
"This is your chamber? It's charming. Do you ever- oh!"  
The gem suddenly recoiled, her eyes wide and staring as she shrunk back against the wall. "Beasts!"

Sadie whipped around, instantly prepared to dive for the baseball bat propped against her dressing table, until she saw just what Kimberlite was so frightened of.

"Oh, no. Those are just my stuffed animals," she explained, dismissively scooping up one of the googly-eyed little rabbits and tossing it aside. "They're not alive or anything."

"Great cosmos…"  
Kimberlite hunched down to examine the plush menagerie, hesitantly prodding one of the pudgy, little puppies. "Pieces of textile art made to resemble Earth creatures. Novel! These little effigies are rather dear…are they decorative or ceremonial?"

"They were mostly gifts from my mom."

The gem, who now cradled a pudgy piglet plush toy in her lap, looked up at Sadie from where she knelt. "Your… _mom_ must take very good care of you. To offer you so many tokens of her affection."

"Yeah, I guess she does. She's pretty great, alright," Sadie smiled, slinging a freshly wrangled, dry towel over her arm and plucking a slightly damp one from her wicker basket. "Well, since you're the guest I'm gonna award you showering-first privileges." She held out the dry towel. "Here, you can use this to get dry."

She yanked open a nearby drawer with a mind to finding Kimberlite something to change into but the gem stopped her.

"If my wet attire is causing you discomfort, I can rectify the issue," she explained to the human, who immediately felt another short-lived jolt of shock when the gem's entire body glowed with a bright ivory light.

When the glow receded, Kimberlite's clothes and hair both seemed to have restored themselves to a state of dry order once more.  
For the first time, Sadie found herself really looking at what Kimberlite was wearing.  
Living amongst the residents of Beach ("Let's-Keep-This-Place-Weird") City, she wasn't unused to coming across bizarre or out of place fashion choices but she suddenly felt a little surprised that the gem's choice of attire hadn't stuck out to her earlier.

From her neck to her feet, the gem was clad in what appeared to be a skin-tight, slate grey bodysuit. The sleeves stopped at her forearms but almost every other expanse of skin aside from her head appeared to be covered.  
Draped over her body suit was a white tunic- not unlike a smock that an artist might wear- secured at the waist with a dark cerulean band and trimmed with a pattern of pale blue lozenges. 

Sadie took a moment to firmly scold herself for staring so much.

Kimberlite's own stare, however, was rather fixated on the oversized pyjama shirt that Sadie held in her hand.  
"Oh, is there a different form of appearance enhancer that is customary to be worn on these occasions?"

Before Sadie could respond, the glow instantly overtook Kimberlite's body once more only this time, when it dulled, the gem was clad in an identical version of the oversized pyjama shirt in the human's hands.

And nothing else.

"Ah-! Oh, wow…that's another heck of a party trick…!" she stammered, fiercely trying to tear her gaze away from the point at Kimberlite's mid-thigh where the hem-line finally stopped.

"Is this more appropriate?" the metamorphic gem enquired innocently, twirling around in her new garb, looking all-too-happy. "I've never worn attire like this before. There's…so much of me to see."

"You, uh, you don't have to dress like that if you don't feel comfortable," Sadie mumbled, giggling nervously as she scratched the back of her neck.

"No," Kimberlite said quickly, pulling back her collar outward and staring downward with comical wonder. "This feels so _liberating_."

"Yeah, I guess wearing slob clothes can be a pretty great feeling after a long day, alright. So, uh, you don't need to shower? At all? Ok…well, I'm not quite as _gifted_ as you are...so…"

The gem handed her back the towel with an assuring look and a shrug. "If there are things you need to attend to, please go right ahead. I don't want to disrupt your evening schedule."

"Thanks…"

Kimberlite seemed quite happy to inspect Sadie's teddies and oddly enough, the almost-shivering woman was happy enough to trust her to do just that.  
She reflected upon this, massaging coconut shampoo into her scalp under jets of hot, steaming water.

She had known Kimberlite for technically less than a day and already she had invited her into her home, was currently letting the gem lounge around her unguarded bedroom and had also accepted an exceedingly decadent gift from her.

The warm water felt good after a long day of work.  
Her scraped chin stung faintly when a small rivulet trickled down over the torn skin but she was happy just to wash the mixed scent of day old doughnuts, stale coffee and pavement from her skin.

She pressed her forehead against the cold tiles, trying to shake the feeling of Kimberlite's tongue lightly grazing the side of her hand.  
She wasn't _disgusted_ per se but she was admittedly disturbed at the fact that she could just not stop thinking about it.

Truth be told, as soon as she had taken a (long overdue) shower following their little "Castaway" adventure with Steven, the feeling of Lars' mouth on hers felt like a hazy, sand-coated, slightly-fish-flavoured memory.  
Kimberlite's action had been a naïve social mistepping that had lasted a bare fraction of a second and yet the incident replayed over and over in Sadie's mind like an 80s sitcom on reruns.  
It wasn't a remotely frightening or upsetting incident; upon reflection, it was rather funny actually…but Sadie didn't want to laugh when she thought about it.

She didn't really want to do anything when she thought about it.  
Except think about it some more.  
And maybe smile the tiniest bit.

Sadie mentally slapped herself, turning off the water to punctuate her inner dialogue.  
 _"Stop thinking like that, you creep,"_ she told the mounting wave of giddiness inside of her. _"If you liked girls or something, you'd swear that…"  
_ She stopped in her tracks for a moment, letting the thought hang in the proverbial, steam-heavy air.  
It wasn't like she hadn't had crushes on women before- the most memorable being a particularly stunning woman who had walked barefoot, wet-haired and grinning into the Big Doughnut late one evening.  
She hadn't managed to get the woman's name but she and Lars had mutually decided to give her a free order of doughnuts.

Never had she felt so beguiled to have a customer question their business ethics.

Either way, she didn't want to make Kimberlite feel uncomfortable.  
 _"Stop being so familiar,"_ she told herself. _"Just be kind, be friendly and make her feel welcome."_

Sadie was in the middle of this very much-needed pep-talk but when she reached out from behind the shower curtain, her train of thought was abruptly derailed.  
Instead of meeting the comforting, fluffy pelt of her bath towel, she was greeted by the feeling of a cold, metal towel rack.

Empty.

How was that possible?  
She had picked out a towel, hadn't she?  
She had offered it to Kimberlite but she had politely declined so Sadie had decided to keep it for herself and had _left it in the bedroom…_

She peered, wide-eyed out of the shower curtain, glancing frantically from the fogged-up mirror to the bathroom door. The hand-towel and bath-mat were far too small.  
There was literally nothing she could use to cover up!  
Steeling her nerves, she gripped the plastic shower curtain and called out:

"Uh…Kimberlite?"

There was a small scuffling sound and suddenly the gem's voice was right outside the bathroom door.  
"Yes, Sadie? Are you alright? Can I…be of service to you during your…ablutions?" She appeared to be choosing her words a little hesitantly, not that her human host could blame her. "Would you…like me to join you?"

"No!" Sadie said quickly, adding in a softer tone. "No, no, no thank you. I was just wondering, did I happen to leave my towel outside?"

"Towel? Ah…yes, you did! Would you like me to fetch it for you?"

"That'd be great , thanks."

Relieved, Sadie stepped out on to her bathmat, daintily padding her feet dry and making her way towards the door.  
"So maybe if you just pass it-?"

The words were barely out of her mouth when Kimberlite suddenly pulled the bathroom door wide open.  
Sadie had only ever experienced the sensation of being literally "paralysed with horror" once before.  
It was during her first ever softball game, batting for Beach City's premier Little League team, the Baby Narwhals.

At that exact moment in time, standing soaking wet and very, very naked in front of a woman that she barely knew, she really didn't know which was more mortifying: the current situation that she was in or the one-woman cheer-squad that was her mother.

"I-uh-! Ah-!"  
Before Sadie could even form a basic utterance of any kind, Kimberlite thrust the towel into her hands, a wide smile on her face.  
Her eyes were unassuming and innocent, the gem seeming completely unaware of the rather embarrassing situation that was unfolding in front of her.

"Did I retrieve the correct towel?" she asked hesitantly, a trifle apprehensive in the wake of Sadie's wide-eyed, slack-jawed expression.

The human woman had to force her lips to start shaping coherent words.  
"Y-Yeah. Perfect! Great! Thanks!"

She took the towel, nervous laughter bubbling out of her throat like a geyser as she hastily covered herself up. "C-Can you just give me another second? I'll be right out!"

Kimberlite was standing patiently outside the bathroom when Sadie resurfaced, (fully dressed this time), the gem holding one of her legions of plush toys in her arms.  
There was something so absolutely comical but so absolutely endearing about Kimberlite's entire demeanour that Sadie couldn't help but giggle.

It had taken her three or four minutes to contemplate how exactly she was going to face Kimberlite again after their little mishap but any trace of embarrassment immediately dissipated at the sight of the gem's friendly smile.

"You can sit down if you'd like," she told her, beckoning her over to the bed.  
Mirroring her actions, Kimberlite followed her human host and sat upon the sheets, crossing her long, ropy legs.

"I must thank you again for allowing me to take shelter here tonight. Your personal chamber is so cozy."

"Meh, I keep it tidy and I like to set the central heating to come on about an hour before I get home. This place can get a little musty sometimes, y'know being a basement and all."

"Oh, I know the pains. My personal chamber is underground too. It's quite empty though- nowhere near as interesting as yours." Kimberlite reached up, lifting her long silver-grey hair and sweeping it to one side, effectively lifting the curtain that separated their lines of vision. "I am not allowed to move around the temple so much so I don't have much to compare by in the way of air conditions." She tilted her head curiously. "What is that device?"

Sadie considered the hairdryer, coiled haphazardly around her elbow, such a banal object that it took her three or four minutes to realise that _that_ was what Kimberlite was talking about.

"Oh, it's just a hairdryer. Like, it makes hot air and you use it to dry your hair."  
Sadie switched it on to show her, the gem reacting with amazement.

"It manipulates air and temperature!" she squealed, delighted when Sadie allowed her to hold it. "How does it achieve this?"  
The human offered a careful demonstration, showing Kimberlite how to set the plug into the socket and how to adjust the settings but she almost dropped the hairdryer at the noise that the came from the gem's mouth when the warm gale was directed into her face.

The high pitched squeal seemed to embarrass Kimberlite too and she clapped a hand over her mouth.  
The two caught each other's eye and suddenly burst into peals of uncontrollable laughter.

"I-I've never made that noise before!"

"It s-sounded like someone stepped on a rubber duck!"

"I don't even know what that is! And I still find it funny!"

When their laughter finally subsided, Sadie returned to doing her hair, eventually starting to notice the damp patches on her shoulders.  
Kimberlite was consistently patient, happy to mouth conversation with the human woman and inspect the stitches in Sadie's quilt until the drying process was complete.

Sadie had just started to take a comb to her hair, set to begin the tedious, teeth-gritting process of taming her curly locks when the gem spoke up. "May I?"

She gestured to the comb, Sadie raising her eyebrows and instantly handing it over.  
"Uh, yeah sure?"

Sadie felt a familiar tingle in her cheeks when Kimberlite came to sit behind her on the bed, her hands delicately sifting through the human woman's hair.  
Features of the beguiling astral traveller's being had slowly came to her attention, like small folds of tide, coursing gradually through sand and for the first time, she took careful stock of the gem's body.

Mirroring the span of her face and the hooked, stretch of her nose, Kimberlite's torso and limbs were long. Despite this frame, her shoulders were broad- almost masculine- and her upper arms were strong.  
As the gem slowly guided her to settle back against her chest, Sadie could feel the slightest swell, hinting at the existence of a very small but very _there_ bosom.

"You've got lovely hair," the gem told her, deftly running the brush through her hair with apparent ease.

"Thanks. You've got _really_ soft hands," Sadie replied. "Normally that old comb practically rips the hair outta my scalp. Though I guess with all your hair, you must get a lot of practice brushing."

"My Pearl usually brushes my hair," Kimberlite told her. "We sit in front of the fountain in my chamber and she brushes out my hair while telling me stories about what happened in Blue Diamond's court that day. She taught me how to brush it gently so that I wouldn't have to wait for her if my hair needed attending." She chuckled slightly, gathering Sadie's hair into a delicate coil at the nape of her neck. "Pearl always says that I have hair like a Quartz."

"A Quartz?"

"Yes. Wild and long and difficult to bring into submission. You see, on my Homeworld, I'm considered what you would call a "kept" gem." She gave Sadie a bemused look over her shoulder. "That's just a nice way for the working and military classes to call us spoiled pets." She giggled softly and lightly flicked the comb across Sadie's crown, drawing the soft primrose tendrils into a single sweep. "Kept gems are expected to have very short or very refined, well-groomed hair. Long, unruly manes are for soldiers, bodyguards and the likes…and they're all normally Quartzes. Hence, I have hair like a Quartz."

"Oh, I think I get it. Well, I think you've got great hair. I did a lot of different sports when I was a kid so my mom always made me keep my hair kinda short," Sadie told her. "I would've loved long hair. Lotsa hair to braid. I could do a mean braid when I was eleven!"

"Uh…braid?"

"Yeah, hang on. Switch places with me and I'll show you."

Sadie's found her skills a little rusty since it had been a while since her hair hadn't been habitually just above her shoulders but her fingers seemed to work of their own accord, weaving the hair into the familiar, pretty loops that her mother had taught her to craft.

Kimberlite was so delighted with the first, fragile little plait that she was happy to let Sadie keep going. Therapeutic as it was for the human and as much as the gem loved the novelty of having her hair toyed with, it wasn't long before Kimberlite's long, silvery tresses were adorned by at least fourteen individual vines of braid.

In the midst of their chatting, the alien woman alluded to Blue Diamond again and Sadie suddenly felt obliged to bring up to a topic that she'd been dancing around all evening.

"Uh, Kimberlite?"

"Yes?"

The gem's contented gaze was suddenly a hundred times more blush-inducing.

"I…uh…listen, it's not like I'm not grateful or anything but, uh…the diamond you gave me," Sadie sighed, swallowing and looking down at her hands as she spoke, clasped in her lap. "I…I'd like to give it back to you."

"Was there something wrong with it? I knew it was too small…"  
Kimberlite's dejected voice immediately caused Sadie's head to jerk upwards once more.

"Oh no! Nothing like that, at all! It's just…giving someone a diamond- even a _small_ diamond- here on Earth is a really big deal. I just don't think I deserve it like that. It was a nice gesture but-!"

"But why should it not be a "big deal?" You saved my life and I gave the diamond to you as a token of my thanks. You deserve the reward, Sadie."

"But you weren't even really drowning."

"But you still _saved_ me." Kimberlite put her hand on the human woman's shoulder, dwarfing her slightly. "If you hadn't come across me when you did, I would have more than likely done a great deal of damage to myself." She smiled. "Please keep the diamond. For my peace of mind, if nothing else."

Sadie stared up at Kimberlite for a moment and then, all at once, returned the wide smile. "Alright. I will."

"Could you possibly promise me something else?"

"Depends on what it is, I guess."

"Could you promise me that you shall stop selling yourself short? I don't have much experience with human beings but by the standards of gems, you are a remarkable individual."

Sadie, in a different situation, might have shrugged off the compliment with a witty remark or a bashful grin but, with eyes firmly meeting Kimberlite's, she found herself instead saying: "Y'think so?"

The gem nodded. "Truly. Really and truly. If you were a gem, I'd have your hired into my service in the flicker of a star."  
She winked and the human couldn't help but laugh. "You're a real gem, Kim."

Kimberlite nodded again, clasping her hands in front of her stomach. "Indeed, I am." She shifted her weight on the bed a little and adopting a more serious tone. "And now unfortunately, I'm afraid there's something a little less frivolous that I must ask of you."

"Oh…yeah?"  
Instinctively, Sadie leaned closer to her, tilting her face upward.

"My Peridot and I have become stranded here on your planet. Our ship was damaged in the initial landing and we must repair it if we are to return home before Blue Diamond registers my absence."

"Well, I'm no mechanic but I'm sure if we ask around-…"

"We need to find a new power gem for the ship and for that, we need to find the Kindergarten."

"The Kindergarten? Like…a place where kids go to school? Or does that mean something different where you're from."

"It is a place where gems are formed. There is one here on Earth, not far from this residential area."

"Where gems are formed, huh?" Sadie racked her brain, trying to think of any possible candidate locations but to the best of her knowledge, Beach City wasn't nor had it ever been a mining town and didn't have much of a turnover of precious stones. "What would it look like?"

Now it was Kimberlite's turn to struggle for thought. "I have only ever seen them in visual logs…I suppose it would take the form of a rocky, mountainous land with many crevices lining the rock-faces. Does that sound familiar?"

Sadie clicked her tongue, shaking her head. "Not at all."

"Oh, I see…"  
For some reason Kimberlite's crestfallen expression felt like a stab in the chest.  
Like making the gem sad was possibly the worst thing she could have done.

"W-Wait though!" she said quickly, confused at her own eagerness to stop her house-guest's smile from fading. "I think I might know someone who can help you." She took a breath, shrugging a little. "There are other gems who live around here. My friend Steven lives with them. They might be able to help you with finding this Kindergarten place…"

Kimberlite looked hesitant for a moment, seemingly in deep contemplation, her eyes lowered and her brow furrowing before finally lifting her head in decided decision. "That would be very helpful. Thank you. You will accompany me when I take audience with them though? Won't you?"

"Yeah sure," Sadie assured her. "I've got a late shift tomorrow so I'll take you straight down to Steven's house in the morning." She smiled widely, trying to keep her voice as soothing as possible in the wake of Kimberlite's apparent anxiousness. "Hey, don't worry about meeting them. Steven and the gems are literally some of the nicest people that I know…"

For a moment, it looked as though the living stone had something that she wanted to say but if it was anything important, it certainly evaporated quickly when Kimberlite first took notice of one of the largest items in Sadie's room.

"Oh! You have your own personal communications hub! Do you have your own line? I would love to have one those!"

"Communications hub? No, no, no…that's just my old t.v. set!"

"Teevee," Kimberlite parroted, trying the new word out on her tongue.

"Yeah, television. Don't you have that where you're from? Here, let me show you."

Kimberlite's first reaction to television was nothing short of hilarious and when posed with the question of what the gem's first experience with the world of movies should be, Sadie had a feeling that something Disney was in question.

It was only an hour later that they were both deeply engrossed in a classic VHS edition of _Cinderella_. 

They sat, shoulder to shoulder, (or rather head-to-shoulder), their backs pressed against the wall behind Sadie's bed and their eyes on the television.  
Miss Miller herself was currently munching through a bag of well-deserved oyster crackers.  
Kimberlite hadn't quite gotten the hang of eating yet but she was content to casually lick the flavouring from one of them, utterly transfixed with what she had termed "sentient artwork."

"This is stunning," whispered Kimberlite, as the protagonist whirled around the ballroom, in the arms of her prince. "Novel. A servant masquerading as a noble. I certainly hope she's not put to death for her defiance…"

What was "novel", if anything, Sadie couldn't help but think, was watching a movie like this with someone who was far from familiar with the typical conventions of fairytales.

"Nah, nothing so morbid's gonna happen," she told the other occupant of her bed in hushed tones, not taking her eyes from the screen. "But I'm not gonna give away the ending." She found herself laughing slightly. "I used to always loved this movie since I was kid. It's kinda embarrassing for someone at my age to watch something like this so often but I can't help but like it. I used to wish I could dance like that…"

Kimberlite sat up, her eyebrows raised. "It's rather easy. I could show you, if you wish."  
Sadie spluttered slightly, shaking her head. "No, no, no. I don't dance. I _can't_ dance."

The gem had taken in a lot of things in the last hour and had taken most of it fluidly in her gait.  
But all at once, the very human concept of not being much of a dancer seemed to genuinely shock her into silence.

At least for a few seconds, anyway.

"Sadie, _everyone_ can dance," the gem told her, slowly unfolding her legs to stand up. "It's the most natural thing in the entire universe. Everyone has a dance. They just have to learn it."

"Well, maybe for gems like you but not for humans. Some humans. Humans like me anyway," Sadie told her, kneeling up slightly and helping herself to another oyster cracker.

"Nonsense," Kimberlite declared, getting to her feet and turning to face the bed. "If I can learn to do it- so can you."  
She held out her hand to Sadie. "Dance with me."

"What? Here? _Now?"_

"Here and now."

Sadie laughed nervously, waving her hand. "You can't be serious."

"I'm completely serious. You wish to dance like the figures in your "movie." I can teach you to do such a thing. Thus, I'm asking you to dance."

"Look, it's not that I don't appreciate what you're trying to do. I like the _idea_ of dancing…what I don't like is the idea of people watching me while I dance."

"There's no one here to watch you right now." Kimberlite leaned forwards, holding out her hand a little further. "Well, aside from me and I'm certainly not going to judge you."

Sadie stared at her for what felt like an awfully long time, (though what in actual fact was probably less than thirty seconds).  
Then she opened her mouth and what she thought she was going to say was a polite _"no, thank you."  
_ However, no sooner had her lips parted did she hear her own voice reply:

"Ok."

 _What am I doing?  
What am I doing?  
What am I doing? _

Sadie's mind was racing as she put her hand in Kimberlite's, the gem's thumb draping gently over her knuckles as she guided her to stand.  
Her eyes were on the alien woman and her rather regal gait as the two of them made their way to the middle of her bedroom.

"So how do you want to do thi-? Woah!"

The human couldn't help but let out an exclamation of surprise when the gem, in one fluid motion, stepped in front of her so that her nose was only bare centimetres from Kimberlite's bosom.

"For the purpose of my demonstration, I am going to act as the leading gem and you can be my follower," she told her human companion, slowly bringing her hand to rest upon her shoulder. "That means I'll be dipping you. Is that alright?"

If Sadie was in a more concentrated frame of mind, she might have had the sense to ask what exactly Kimberlite meant by what she had said.  
However the moment the living stone's hand came to settle on the small of her back, her skin became so warm that she could only manage a quick nod.

"Excellent," Kimberlite went on, raising Sadie's still-held hand into a graceful waltz position. "Now, this is best performed if you rise on to your toes slightly as you move. Place all your weight on me if you need to. First, you're going to take a step backwards and then to the left."

"Ok, back …and to the left…"

"Very good. Now, to the right and then forwards, like you're tracing out a square on the floor with your feet."

Sadie followed the gem's direction, holding on to her for support and marvelling at the almost contradictory features of Kimberlite's physique.  
The hand that held hers was delicate and slender whilst the shoulder that she gripped felt broad and strong. Again, the gem was both masculine and feminine at the same time and this fact on served to draw Sadie's interest in her.

"You're doing very well," Kimberlite encouraged gently.  
"Yeah?" Sadie looked up with a smile, finally tearing her eyes from her moving feet. "You think so?"  
"Of course," the gem told her with a chuckle. "Blue Diamond had her Pearl teach me to waltz and it took me at least three solar rotations before I was as good as you are now."  
"Awwh, you're only saying that to make me feel better!"  
"I swear it! You're an exceptionally fast learner!"

Both soft-spoken conversation and the soundtrack of the movie served as music for their first, rhythmless, imperfectly perfect first waltz.

She was taken by surprise when Kimberlite suddenly released her hand and drew her into a undexterous but remarkably unafraid twirl.  
She had never felt so light before and Kimberlite's taller form made her feel perfectly protected- as though even if they did have an audience, she'd have no reason to be self-conscious.

Without being expressly told, her hand found the gem's again and their stepping sequence resumed and continued.  
 _"It's kind of like braiding,"_ Sadie thought to herself, relaxing as her legs followed Kimberlite's. _"It seems complicated but once you get going, it just kinda comes naturally…"_

She was jerked out of her own thoughts, (and subsequently only realised that she'd been staring at Kimberlite's chest the whole time), when the gem suddenly stopped their dance.  
She immediately looked up, only to see the taller woman smiling down at her.

"Ready?"  
"Ready for wh-?"

Kimberlite briefly drew Sadie close to her body before unanticipatedly swinging her to the side and dipping her down, the human's back suddenly sloping over the crook of the gem's arm.

"Gah!"  
Sadie let out a small shriek, her immediate reaction being to flail wildly at the unnatural sensation.  
Kimberlite subsequently lost her hold on the human's form and in a sweeping loss of balance, the two of them crashed to the floor in a tangle of limbs.

"Oh my stars and galaxies!" Kimberlite spluttered, trying to sit up but leaning on her own plaited hair and causing her to fall back down upon Sadie again. "I am so sorry."

"No, no…I'm sorry…I kinda ruined that, didn't I?" Sadie sighed, trying unsuccessfully to sit up straight once more.

"Not at all," the igneous gem told her, testing her own weight on one arm. "I should have warned you before I went for a finale. Things were just moving so fluidly and dancing with you is so very enjoyable that I'm afraid I rather forgot to-oh!"  
Kimberlite's hand slipped from under her, causing the gem to violently wobble forwards, most of her long hair falling forward over her face.

"Oh pebbles," she exhaled, attempting to blow clumps of her own, unravelling hair from her mouth. "It would appear that I am a…how do you say it? A klutz?"

Sadie stared at her for a moment and without second thought, began to laugh uncontrollably.

Kimberlite raised an eyebrow but smiled widely, also amused. "Is something wrong?"

"It's just…your hair," Sadie giggled, her embarrassment quickly dissolving. "It looks as if it's trying to take over your face. Here. Let me give you a hand." She reached up to brush the long, greyish tendrils from Kimberlite's face.

The gem leaned into her touch for a moment, her eyes fluttering shut.  
Sadie noticed this, holding her hand steady for a moment and –with mounting awe- studied the serene expression above her.  
The gem's normally cool skin felt as though it was slowly warming beneath her hand and both women were, little by little, forgetting themselves.

A startling white glow emanating from Kimberlite's arm immediately opened the doors to reality once more. Her gem was gleaming brightly, similar to as it had when she had changed her clothes and made the coffee disappear.  
Only this time, the brightness was even more intense- harsh but enthralling, a lovely contradiction.  
The only words Sadie could think to describe it were "blinding but not in a painful way."

And the human couldn't help but think that she'd seen it before somewhere.

Kimberlite immediately sat up, studying her gem with the same surprise as Sadie, watching as it faded slowly back to normality.

"Wow," breathed Sadie, pushing herself upright. "That was really beautiful. What happened?"  
Unlike the instances before, nothing seemed to have changed about Kimberlite or her surroundings.

"I don't know," the gem exclaimed, her voice rife with incredulity. "It's never done that before!"

"Well, are you feeling alright?" the human asked her, concerned as she kneeled up.

"I'm fine now but…I don't know. I've never felt like that before." She looked at Sadie, her eyes still wide with disbelief. "It didn't feel bad or anything but it was so strange. My entire body felt as though it was slipping out of my control, it was…I can scarcely explain it…"

"Maybe you're feeling a little faint. You can use my bed for the night if you'd like. I'll get out the futon for myself…"

Kimberlite, despite her best intentions, was a little more of a hindrance than a help when it came to rolling out the futon but her eager antics never once failed to make Sadie smile.  
They both sat back upon the bed to watch the ending of the movie, Sadie's head on Kimberlite's shoulder and Kimberlite's head atop Sadie's.

The gem breathed a sigh of relief. "I am so very happy that Cinderella was not left looking like a fraud! I was so frightened when her master shattered the glass orthopaedic enhancer; it would have left the ruling class humans without any means of identifying her…"

"Yeah, that part always makes my heart race, even though I've seen it like over one hundred times," Sadie replied, curling her knees up to her chest.

"Human mythos is far more interesting than the mythology of my world."

"Yeah? But you're all, like, magical and stuff. I would'a thought you guys would have the best stories to tell."

"Mmm, fictional tales with any kind of overly hyperbolic elements are frowned upon."

"That sucks."

"Indeed."

Sadie yawned, settling down on the bed and laying down on the pillow.  
Kimberlite, mostly in an effort to keep eye contact, settled down beside her.

"Sadie?"

"Hm?" 

"I don't think I understood the ending of the…uh, _movie_. What happened to Cinderella and the ruling class human? What were they doing?"

"They got married."  
Sadie was starting to feel sleepy, her eyelids drooping.

"Married? What is that?"  
"It's like when people decide to stay together forever and they make it official to everyone they know…"  
"That sounds nice."  
"It can be, I guess."

Sadie must have fallen asleep because her next immediate registry of sensation was Kimberlite's hand slightly shaking her shoulder.

"Hmm?" she inhaled sharply, rubbing her eyes, barely conscious. "Oh…sorry…mmm…I must'a fell asleep."

"You lost consciousness. I was worried that you were hurt."

Sadie laughed throatily, shaking her head and settling back into the warm, plush spot beneath her head. "No, no…humans need to sleep to like…recharge…"

"So it's normal?"

"Yeah, as long as I'm breathing: I'm good."

" _Ohh…"_

Thoroughly exhausted, Sadie was completely content with her decision to simply allow slumber to steal over her once more.  
Just before she succumbed to her hazy world of dreams once more, she felt the need to inform Kimberlite: "Y'know, I've never been so close to a gem before. You guys are really…" She yawned. "…really cool."

"I've never met a human before," Kimberlite whispered in return. "You're really cool too."

The gem was content to watch the human slowly fall asleep.  
Kimberlite decided that she didn't mind when Sadie's arm wrapped around her side.  
She also decided that deciding to ask Sadie for help personally was an excellent decision.

And she was regretting her decision to come to Earth less and less with every passing second.  
Or more specifically, with every rise and fall of Sadie's chest.

 **Thank you for reading!  
We'll be back to the Crystal Gems in the next chapter! **

**If anyone is interested, kimberlite is actually quite an intriguing real-world gem.  
I came across it while researching a geography-based paper.  
Kimberlite's (the character's) role in gem society actually stem from the real-world gem's properties in that pieces of diamonds and traces of other precious stones are commonly found inside of it. **


	7. Chapter 7

_Thank you for reading! This will be shorter than I had planned but I had to separate it from a former chapter for the sake of building the story.  
_

* * *

 _ **Fantasia**_

Sadie Miller usually didn't remember her dreams.

She was scrubbing the floor of the Big Doughnut, only now the floor seemed miles longer than it normally was. In fact, she was already out of breath by the time she made her way from the counter to the door.

"Cinderella!" barked one of her stepsisters, strutting across the floor, her mud and sand caked high-tops leaving a trail, smudging footprints across the tiles.

She cringed, scrambling to her feet, her scrubbing brush still tight in her grasp.  
"Yes? What is it?"

"Have you pressed my dress for the ball tonight?"

Sadie honestly couldn't remember having even been asked to do that and as she racked her brain for the answer to this question, she noticed that her stepsister looked an awful lot more like a step _brother_.  
From her spiked, reddish, brown hairstyle to her perfectly gapped ears, it wasn't that her attributes were particularly masculine- she just really reminded Sadie of someone whom she knew.

Before she had a chance to answer her first stepsister, her second stepsister stormed into the dining area, her spectacles sliding down her nose with each step.

"What have I told you about borrowing my games?! Or my mascara?!" she shrieked, also possessing quite a familiar countenance. "You need to stay out of my private quarters!"

"I haven't been in your _"private quarters"_ ," stepsister number one sneered. "And do you _have_ to stand so close to me! You clearly haven't showered today and I don't want to smell like _sneeple_ during the ball tonight!"

With that sudden reminder, Sadie instantly found herself asking: "Can I go to the ball tonight too? King Dewey said that anyone in the kingdom is eligible to go."

Her two stepsisters paused in their bickering for a moment, looked down at their dishevelled dishmaid, (who felt a lot smaller than usual), and in perfect unison, burst out into peals of cruel laughter.

"Oh, Cinderella. Somehow I don't think his royal highness would want anyone like _you_ present at the ball."

"Yeah, no servants covered in grease and chocolate stains! Heh, heh, heh…and what'll the royals think if he gets a load'a her? What's she gonna wear? A coffee filter?!"

"I doubt she can even dance!"

"She'd need someone to hold her mop for her…"

Sadie blinked embarrassed, angry tears from her eyes as she watched her two sisters put on their best gowns, (something about that image was reticently hilarious but at the time, she had no idea why), and head off to the ball.

She sighed, sitting up on the counter and staring out at the beachfront as night started to fall. "Well, it _is_ just a royal ball. Maybe it'll be really boring. And stupid." She looked down at her hands, slumping her shoulders. "And awesome…"

Suddenly a bright, pink light engulfed the room and in an inexplicable shower of rose-petals, a small figure appeared in the room.  
A small _familiar_ figure.

"Steven?!"

Steven Universe emerged from the vortex of peony and powder-pink, clad in what appeared to be a white, frilly dress.  
If anything, Sadie was more shocked by his magical entrance, rather than his appearance- because as always, Steven looked far more elegant in such a gown than most people she knew.

Looking up at her with glowing eyes, dream-Steven's voice made her just as happy as real-Steven's voice.  
"Hey Sadie! Why're you here all alone? You deserve to go to the ball just as much as anyone else!"

She couldn't quite hear her own voice as she spoke, but all the same, she knew what she was saying. "I can't go. I don't have anything to wear."

"Sure you do!" Steven said with a grin, gesturing to Sadie's grubby, Big Doughnut uniform.  
"You can wear this!" When the young woman looked down, she was highly confused to behold the fact that her purple polo and grey trousers had turned to something entirely different. Specifically, the sparkling teal number that her mother and the, (rather glittery), boy in front of her had tried to get her to wear during her debut performance at the Beach City talent show.

For some reason, despite her past misgivings, this idea instantly enthralled Sadie and all she could find herself doing was twirling around and admiring the aqua tinted sequins as they sparkled.

"Thank you, Steven!"

"No prob, Bob! You can go to the ball now…but remember, you've gotta be home before midnight!"

"Midnight? What?"

But when Sadie looked up, Steven was gone.  
The entire Big Doughnut was gone.  
Now she was walking outside- walking to the beach, along the boardwalk.

"You excited for the big ball, Sadie? I'm glad you decided to show up!"

The blonde woman jumped in surprise, noticing that Jenny Pizza was now walking at her right side, dressed in very elegant, silky, red ball-gown.

"Uh…yeah. I'm glad I could go too."

"Nice outfit! The colour really suits you!"  
Kiki Pizza was now at her left hand side, similarly decked out to the absolute nines in a shimmering dress of golden lace.

Both looked almost absurdly glamorous for a beach-side barbecue with some music.

"Thanks Kiki. Wow, you both look great. I didn't think so many people would take the whole "ball" thing so seriously."

In fact, all of the Beach City residents that they passed seemed to have decided to swap their usual aprons and jeans for the most embellished of formal attire.  
Most seemed to sporting some form of large piece of sumptuous costume jewellery, gleaming beneath the moon's resplendent glow.

"Well, we all want to look our best," Jenny reminded her. "After all, this is the night we might get to meet King Diamond."

"King Diamond?" Sadie repeated, a second wave of confusion washing over her. "I thought our King's name was King Dewey?"

"That's what she said," Kiki said with a slight laugh. "King Blue Diamond. I'd _love_ to meet her, wouldn't you?"

"I wonder if she'll dance," the first of the Pizza twins commented wistfully. "Maybe she'll ask someone to dance with her! That would be _so_ cool!"  
Sadie couldn't help but notice that Jenny was starting to look a little purple.  
At first she thought it might just be her excitement but as they neared the beach, it became increasingly clear that Jenny Pizza's skin had actually turned to a rich shade of lavender.

"Queen Blue Diamond would never do something so frivolous! We'll be lucky to simply have her watch us dance!"  
Kiki's voice sounded a little odd, all of a sudden.  
Her skin suddenly looked very green and her hair looked very yellow.

Both of the Pizza twins also seemed to have lost about a foot and a half of height.

Not that this appeared odd when they reached the actual beach itself, (which looked far fancier than she would have expected for a standard Valentine's dance), considering that most of Beach City's residents seemed to have swapped out their original skin tone for a more vibrant hue and gained/lost at least a quarter of their original height.

In fact, after just a few moments of wandering across the strand-turned-dancefloor, Sadie could no longer recognise anyone who looked as if they came from Beach City.  
"Uh, Kiki? Jenny?"

She looked around but her two walking companions appeared to have vanished completely. Try as she might, Sadie could not pick their faces out in the gathering crowds.  
They had left her, standing solitary and sentinel, in the middle of the beach's makeshift ballroom.

In fact, with everyone standing around in little brightly-coloured, gaudy, gilded clusters, whispering and laughing, Sadie suddenly felt terribly lonely.  
Not to mention self-conscious, considering that her own little aqua two-piece felt awfully understated in comparison to the eleganza that surrounded her.

Out of nowhere, a swell of classical music permeated the night air and couples began to take their places for the first waltz.  
It was a little formal for Sour Cream's usual sets but maybe this was some kind of weird new trend?

"You know what? To heck with this dumb ball," Sadie told herself, starting to feel more uncomfortable than ever. "I'll have more fun sitting at home and watching movies. Plus, I'd better get back before my stepsisters catch me…"

She turned to walk away for the glittering hoardes, only to feel a hand suddenly take hers.

"No. Please. Do not go."  
"Hey! Who do you th-?"

Sadie was just about to yank her hand from the stranger's grip but when she whipped her head around to confront them, her entire body seemed to turn to stone.

Standing behind her, having gently released her hand was a mesmerising stranger, dressed in a suit of silvery hues and emblazoned with an intricate green pattern.  
Long argent hair and a high collar served to partially conceal the stranger's face.

"I am truly sorry to startle you but I have been trying to work up the courage to speak to you since you arrived."

A mounting chorus of whispers echoed around them, conversations starting to still beneath the music.

"Uh-huh…? Do I know you from somewhere?"

The stranger smiled, shaking her head. "I am certain that if we had met before, I would certainly remember your face. What is your name?"

"Sadie. Sadie Miller."

Long, ardent hair parted like a veil to reveal a delicately hooked nose and as the stranger bent forward in a formal bow. She took Sadie's hand and lips softly brushed over her knuckles.  
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance. Will you do me the honour of joining me for a dance?"

The whispers around them became louder, a low hum of interest and confusion starting to run around the room.

Sadie couldn't remember explicitly agreeing to the stranger's request but the next thing she knew, she and the stranger were in the centre of the dancefloor, gliding in circles in time with the music.

Normally, she would have felt intensely paranoid dancing in front of so many people but the stranger's smile put her at her ease. It wasn't long before it felt like she and the stranger were the only two people on the beach despite the glittering crowds that surrounded them.

The feeling that ran through her was warm and soothing.  
Yet oddly familiar.

"Are you sure we've never met?" Sadie asked her dance partner.

"I don't really get to leave the palace very much," the stranger told her.

"The palace? Oh, you work for Queen Blue Diamond?"

"You could say that."

"That must be kinda cool, though I can relate…I don't really get out much either."

The stranger gingerly guided her into a careful spin, drawing her back into the dance with ease. "It is nice to meet a kindred spirit."

"Wow, you must be a really big deal. Everyone here is staring at you," Sadie noted, a slight tremble entering her voice as her eyes travelled around the crowded strand.

Fingers delicately took her chin, very softly coercing her to look back to the stranger's face.  
"I am inclined to believe that they are all looking at you."

Sadie felt an immediate warmth rising inside of her, her trembling ceasing as her face tilted upward to further study the handsome stranger's face.

Before she could say another word, she heard a clock in the distance chiming, heralding midnight's imminent approach.

 _Clang._

"I…I have to go now…"

 _Clang._

"So soon? I am sorry if I have offended you," the stranger said bashfully, immediately taking a step back.

 _Clang._

"No, no! Not at all! I just…need to get home…"  
The distant clock sounded different now.

 _Buzz._

"…see, I need sleep…"  
The clock almost sounded like her phone.

 _Buzz._

"And my shift starts in like, one hour."  
Or more specifically, her morning alarm.

 _Buzz. Buzz. Buzz._

Normally, Sadie didn't remember her dreams.

This one, however, lingered vividly in the corners of her mind, long after the monotonous of her phone's alarm woke her from her slumber.

Her eyes opened, blinking groggily with surprise when the blurry image of Kimberlite's smiling face shifted into view.

"G-Good morning," she stammered, swallowing back a rather shy yawn at the realisation that she had drifted off to sleep beside the gem and most definitely slept beside her for the entire night.

"Good morning," Kimberlite echoed, sitting up with noteworthy excitement and reaching over to Sadie's bedside table.  
The gem handed her an ordinary drinking glass that appeared to be filled with some kind of murky, brown liquid. "Here. I pardon my imposition but I took the liberty of making you this for when you regained consciousness."

The scent of the liquid hit Sadie like a freight train but it took her a few minutes to realise that she was holding a glass of coffee.  
Kimberlite had clearly tried to make her the drink, having poured far too much of the instant stuff into a glass and filled the remainder with tap-water.

And if Sadie's eyes weren't fooling her, a few spoonfuls of poorly mixed-in sugar for good measure.

"I couldn't make it hot," Kimberlite told her quite balefully, lowering her gaze. "I tried everything but it just wouldn't work. I'm sorry if your coffee is subsequently substandard."

The barest hint of forest green appeared across the mottled grey surface of her house guest's cheeks, chin and forehead and a ripple of joy through Sadie's stomach when she realised that Kimberlite was blushing.

A slow smile spread across Sadie's lips and, (bracing her taste buds), she took a gulp of the mixture. She bit back a shudder as she put the glass aside. "Th-thanks, Kim! It tastes great!"

The following look of pure glee that burst across Kimberlite's face made the unpleasant taste incredibly bearable.

And also confirmed the identity of the prince(ss?) in her dream.

Sadie might have taken a little more time to think about the implications of this, had she not immediately realised that her mother was standing at the top of the stairs to her room.  
Staring down at them.  
Both of them.  
Her daughter and the other occupant of her bed.

* * *

 _Thank you again for reading!_


	8. Chapter 8

_**Tremors**_

"Hey, you doin' yoga or something?" Amethyst felt the need to inquire, flumping down on to hindquarters in the grass.  
Peridot's own hindquarters was raised skyward, her head pressed to the ground with a look of acute concentration on her face.

"Shh," she scolded the purple gem with a hiss. "I'm listening."

"For gophers?"

"For the cluster."

"Wait, you can _hear_ that thing? What's it saying?" Amethyst immediately mirrored the green gem's position, mimicking the gawky downward dog with zeal.

"I can't literally hear the cluster itself," Peridot whispered reedily, eyes still focused. "I can hear…tremors. Movements in the bedrock."

Amethyst's brows furrowed, her lips puckering to blow a tendril of hair from her face. "For real, Peri? I can't hear squat."

"Ugh…you have to _concentrate_. It won't just happen straightaway; the intervals are irregular. Just…stay quiet and listen."

The quartz's patience soon, (and very characteristically of a _quartz_ , Peridot would later reflect), started to wear thin and it wasn't long before Amethyst was shifting and shuffling with restless frustration. "You sure you didn't just like…hear a car moving or something? Because I seriously can't- hey, wait! Did you just feel that?! I felt the ground move!"

Peridot's hair became comically crumpled as she pressed herself even more vigorously into the grassy hillock. "These tremors are far more shallow than before…and rhythmic…the cluster must be normalising! Preparing to take form! We're all _doomed_!"  
The engineer's rigid but trembling limbs betrayed her contradictory desires; her desperation to take action against their fate and her despairing resignation to it.

Amethyst, for a bare fraction of a second, was just about to share in Peridot's panic, when she noticed something a little odd about the tremors. "Hey Peri? I'm no expert or anything…but these "tremors" sound like they're coming from above ground."

"Whuh?"  
Her smaller companion's eyes opened a sliver and focused again in astute concentration as Peridot listened out again. "Y-You're right! These aren't tremors from the cluster at all…"

"Well what are they from?"

"I don't know…but whatever it is…it appears to be getting…closer…"

"You're both going to pull every muscle in your bodies if you keep doing it like that! Keep your arms straight! What have I told you about your posture, Amethyst?"

Both the purple and the green gems practically leapt out of their own holo-forms at the sound of Pearl's voice behind them.

"You also need to keep your backs straight if you want to achieve an optimal stretch," the swordswoman informed them, casting a look of haughty bemusement down at her fellow Crystal Gems. "If you're really serious about this, I can give you a demonstration."

Amethyst groaned, rolling her eyes and shrugging herself back into a sitting position. "We're not doing yoga, P. We're listening for the cluster."

Pearl's look of superiority instantly dissolved into a look of anxious curiosity. "You can _hear_ it?"

"In the form of tremors, yes," Peridot told her and as though she'd said some special keyword and activated some reticent obedience training in the white gem, Pearl instantly dropped to her knees and adopted the same position as the other two. "It takes a particular interval of time for the phenomenon to occur but I can assure you that it _will_ occur."

The awkwardly poised trio listened in an equally mawkish silence for a few scattered moments before Peridot spoke quietly.  
Her two fellows were taken aback at the reduced volume of her usual bark and the very subtle but very _there_ note of vulnerability in her words.

"If …if the diamonds are really here…do you think they're really coming here for me?"

For a moment, only the faint rustle of long-grass disrupted the surface of their silence before Pearl noted aloud: "Granted, I'm not quite as acquainted with the etiquette of Homeworld as I used to be…" Her words hovered in mid-air for a moment, bitterness rising and quelling in her throat before she continued. "But to send an actual member of the Diamond Authority here? Especially when the cluster is so close to emerging? That seems a tad excessive…"

"I dunno," Amethyst hummed, a look of false worry painted over her brow. "Peri _did_ drop the C-Bomb on YD…you can't get much worse than the C-word."

Peridot, not quite used to the purple's gem sense of humour just yet, let out a loud whimper prompting Pearl to shoot Amethyst a disapproving glower.

"Amethyst!"

"Hey…just trying to lighten the mood a little! Peri, I'm _kidding._ Chill. As much as I hate to admit it, P knows what she's talking about. Hey! I think I felt something!"

The odd trinity pressed their heads to the ground once more, listening intently, (and perhaps seeking any kind of distraction from the prospect of the Diamonds coming to Earth).

"Do I even want to know?"

The three of them lifted their heads in surprised unison to see Garnet standing over them, arms folded and head cocked curiously.

"That's an interesting game you're playing," the tall gem remarked, her voice its usual cool velvet, trimmed with a touch of amusement.

"We're, uh, listening for the cluster," Peridot told her, cheeks slowly darkening to a pronounced forest green. "There are resonating tremors. The epicentre is still low but the intervals are getting shorter…"

"Still can't hear it yet though," Amethyst chimed in, adding a quick: "Just sayin'" in the wake of Pearl's irked glare.

"You'll hear it. Just keep listening," the green gem told her, sighing.

"And what're your readings of these movements?"  
Garnet was speaking seriously, lowering herself into a similar posture upon the ground. Given the seriousness of the situation, the hilarity of her posture was admittedly forgivable.

Peridot swallowed with an audible gulp. "The sequence in which the tremors are pulsing can only indicate that the cluster is pulsing against the Earth's mantle. That means it's expanding…trying to take form…"

"Do you think we have much time left?"

"It's…it's hard to say."

"Do we have more than twenty four hours?"

Peridot chewed on her inner mouth slightly, seemingly weighing up probabilities. "…we _should_ , but that doesn't necess-."

"Good. We need to start looking for the Kimberlite and that other Peridot who was with her as soon as possible. _Today_ , if possible. Regardless of Sadie's observations…this pair don't seem all that acquainted with humans so it won't be long until someone gets hurt."

The smallest of the foursome let out a low whine, her legs curling up beneath her as her cheek pressed flat against the grass. "What if Yellow Diamond really _has_ come here? Or what if she's on her way?! On her way to obliterate me- the infamously verbose Homeworld traitor- as an example to gems everywhere!? I've only just become a hero! I don't want to be a _martyr!_ I-eep!"

Peridot let out a birdlike squeal as Garnet's hand came to comfortingly pat the span of her shoulders.

"Let's just cross each bridge as we come to it. There's no point in worrying about anything prematurely." The Crystal Gems' leader raised her gaze to survey the others in their small, (awkwardly positioned), group. "Sapphire knows from experience that the Diamonds would never let the Kimberlite out into the open on Homeworld let alone here on Earth."

"And certainly not without a heavy entourage of soldiers," Pearl offered, her voice quietening a little as she added: "That was always the way it was done when moving aristocrats around so I can't imagine the Diamonds' personal med-pack would be treated any differently…"

Amethyst lifted her head from the grass a little, a small jolt of surprise running through her and turning her waiting torpor to interest.  
It wasn't often that Pearl ever spoke about Homeworld or her personal experiences with it.  
Gem history? Sure.  
Gem culture? Of course.  
Her time on Homeworld? Once a century and only if the situation so perfectly called for it.

If Garnet had noticed this too, she was certainly not going to bring it to notice because the next words to leave her mouth were: "All very true."

"But why is she even _here_?" wheedled Peridot, her legs buckling slightly as her arms tried desperately trying to keep her torso upright. "Even with the help of a superbly formed engineer, how did she get to Earth from Homeworld without anyone noticing? Why would a Peridot even be sent to escort her?"

"Well, we're not going to know until we find her right?" Amethyst pointed out, reaching out slightly to give Peridot's wrist a squeeze. As troublesome as the shrieky, little nerd could be, it was hard seeing her so frazzled. "So chill out, Peri. We got this."

"Right. First, we've got to think about how we're going to track her down," Garnet stated authoritatively, seeming trying to keep the conversation as mission orientated as possible.

"She's bound to be relying on Homeworld technology for her transportation needs," Pearl said, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "Perhaps using some of the older artefacts back at the house, Peridot and I could fashion some sort of scanner?"

"Or we could just go to the Big Doughnut today."

The gems all looked up, only to see Steven, crouched down on the ground with them, bottom high in the air in imitation of his team-mates.

"Sadie texted me to say that she'd be there today and she wants to talk to us," the boy went on, smiling widely. "So…are you guys doing yoga?"

Before anyone could reply or pass any kind of comment, the bright, lime-tinged grass beneath their fingertips suddenly turned to black, the air around them simultaneously becoming cold.

A colossal shadow was suddenly draped over them, prompting all five of them to crane their necks upward in an effort to see what was obscuring the sun.  
They did not have to look very hard though.

"Ok, what is _that_?" Amethyst brushed her hair aside, deciding that both eyes were necessary to examine the monstrosity above them.

"Looks like…a giant bat?" suggested Steven, his voice quivering a little. "Or an albatross? Maybe some kind of monster seagull?"

"It's a gem beast," Garnet declared through gritted teeth. "One of the corrupted Obsidian geodes."

"But we sealed those in the rock caverns over a year ago!" Pearl cried, already lifting her hands to her head in preparation to summon her spear. "How did it get out?"

"The tremors must have shaken them loose," the Crystal Gems' leader speculated, groaning slightly. "I knew I should have bubbled them when I had the chance. Ok, looking for Kimberlite's going to have to wait."

Peridot's eyes had practically turned to satellites. " _Gem beasts!_ You have _gem beasts_ on this planet!? Why do you-?! How do you-?! What do-?!"

Amethyst drew her whip forth from her gem with flourish, chuckling slightly. "You have _no_ idea, home-girl. You have no idea."

Steven took Peridot by the arm, tugging slightly and trying to smile. "Come on, into the barn…it took me a while before I was ready to join in with these things…"

As the huge winged beast's crimson gaze swivelled down upon the small group below, the two smallest of the group had it just made it into the barn door.  
Beneath frantic breathing and a lot of shuffling and barricading, Steven's smile finally found its way on to his face when he heard Peridot mutter:

" _Hey. Wow. Thanks."_

* * *

 **The Morning After  
**

"I…uh…ah…"  
Sadie's voice became strangled, catching in her throat as the young woman desperately tried to come up with something rational to say.

There her mother was, standing at the top of the stairs that lead down to her room.

And there she was, sitting upon her bed…with a complete stranger sitting beside her.  
A complete stranger who had clearly spent the night.

True, the futon was spread out on the floor but it didn't look even slightly slept in and Kimberlite looked comfy as a cat in a sock drawer, perched on the bed beside her.

Barb Miller's face wasn't as angry or shocked as her daughter may have speculated that she would be in this situation.  
If anything, the most prominent emotion to mark her features was confusion.  
And there was a slight glint in her eye.  
What was that little sparkle, lining the very corner of her pupils?  
Was that… _intrigue_?

"Good morning," Barb said eventually, leaning against the wall beside the stairs. "Just thought I'd come in to see if you were up for work." Her eyes flicked over to Kimberlite and back to Sadie again, eyebrows raised. "Didn't know you were planning to have a friend over, though."

Sadie kneeled up abruptly. "Uh, good morning, mom! This is-!"

Before the younger Miss Miller could say another word, Kimberlite was on her feet, stumbling across the floor with surprising speed for one so ungainly.  
Sadie was reminded fleetingly of a video clip Steven had once sent her of a baby duck running after its mother.

Kimberlite was upon _her_ mother in seconds, kneeling in front of her on the steps with a wide smile on her face.

"Good morning, mom of Sadie! My good mom. Most gracious mom. I apologise, I've yet to consult with your Sadie on the proper terms!" She grabbed Barb's hand with both of her own, looking up at her with awestruck earnest. "I must thank you for your hospitality and wholeheartedly apologise for any imposition! Sadie offered me temporary shelter here and after her saving me from what would have been certain death, I found accepting her offer to be the wisest option. I am not of this place, you see and Sadie has been nothing short of diamondesque in her kindness to me."

"Woah, woah, woah…hold on a second," Barb said, incredulous as she stooped to Kimberlite's level. "Sade saved your life?" She grinned widely, returning her gaze to her daughter. "That true?"

The gem nodded, her long hair jostling over her shoulders. "Yes! Entirely true! I fell into a large body of water and Sadie plucked me right out. She also remained with me until my Peridot could come to take me back to safety…"

"Ha ha! That's my Sade! See, I told you all of those beach safety classes would pay off one day!" She looked back to the gem who kneeled before her, smiling encouragingly as she stood up. "And there's no need to grovel, hon. Up we get." She helped Kimberlite to her feet. "You can forget all the fancy titles too. Just call me Barb. What didya say your own name was?"

Sadie let out a long, full-bodied sigh of relief as her mother proceeded to guide Kimberlite upstairs once more, chattering animatedly with her the whole way.  
That whole situation could have ended so much worse.

Dressing quickly was a staple of Sadie's morning routine, (as she enjoyed her sleep a little too much on occasion), but she found herself counting the seconds a little more astutely than usual.  
She couldn't quite rationalise why she wanted to be there for Kimberlite and her mom's first official conversation.

That said, pretty much none of her behaviour as of late felt rational.  
Not unnatural but not rational by a long shot.

For example, as she passed her vanity mirror, having tossed her hairbrush aside, she found herself peering at her sleepwashed reflection's face.

Was that a pimple? _Damn.  
_ Maybe a little foundation and powder wouldn't go astray today?

"W-wait, what?" Sadie stammered, shaking her head and laughing aloud. "What's got into me?"  
She hadn't worn make up to work in well over a year; what made today so special?

She was still smiling faintly to herself about her own bizarre behaviour as she tucked her cellphone into the pocket of her jacket.  
"Heh…there's no point in wearing make up to work anyway. With the air con in the break room, I'll just end up sweating it off by lunch anyway."

Still though, that thought didn't stop her from stopping to take a second glance at her reflection before she made the ascent to her kitchen once more.

She could hear her mom and Kimberlite's voices before she even made it to the door.

"So, I just hold down this button here?"  
"Yep, until the little light turns green."  
"And that's what makes the liquid hot?"  
"That's it."  
"Prodigious!"

Barb couldn't help but stifle her chuckles at Kimberlite's fascination with the coffee brewing machine and was in the process of giving her a demonstration of its use when Sadie resurfaced from her bedroom.

Barb Miller had always had a natural knack for reading people. She seemed to instinctively know that someone like the green and grey flecked stranger at her side needed a little extra patience than most other people.  
But , being a woman of experience, Barb could also tell that Kimberlite was completely and utterly harmless too.  
Quirky but harmless.

"Coffee for you too, Sade?" she asked her daughter as the latter took a seat at the table.

"Uh, yeah sure," came the reply, Sadie having to actively tear her eyes away from the back of Kimberlite's head.  
 _How did she get her hair to fall so perfectly? There wasn't a single split-end, tangle or kink aside from where the gem's hair curved into natural waves._

"That's three mugs then. Do you wanna pour them out, Kimberlite?"

The living stone's eyes widened as though she'd been granted some kind of great honour. "May I?"

At Barb's nod, Kimberlite let out an excited squeal and went about locating vessels for the coffee.

This afforded a chance for the elder Miss Miller to talk with her daughter.

"Sorry about this mom. I would have told you last night but I didn't want to wake you," Sadie told her quietly.

Barb shook her head, still smiling. "You're an adult now. If you want to have a friend over, I'm not gonna stop you." She raised an eyebrow. " 'Course, you know my feelings about total strangers…then again, I think I can trust your judgement." She smiled widely, watching their house guest gingerly pouring the coffee. "And Kimberlite seems like a real sweetie." Barb leaned on her elbow, cradling her chin thoughtfully. "Is she a friend of Steven's? She kinda reminds me of-?"

"No," Sadie told her mother. "But I think she's from the same place as them…"

"Ah."

"Yeah…"

"She's a nice girl," Barb commented offhandedly. "She's pretty keen on you too. Sang your praises earlier."

Both Sadie and her mom had to stifle a small giggle when Kimberlite reappeared with three wineglasses full of hot coffee.

Just as Beach City's most dedicated postwoman was waving them out the door, she leaned out to offer her daughter a hug.  
And just as her mouth was level with her daughter's ear, she took the opportunity to mutter:

"To be honest, I'm just happy that the first person I caught you in bed with wasn't that red-headed, sass-slinging slacker…"

Sadie didn't think her face had turned quite as red as usual until she noticed that Kimberlite's strange bubble from the night before hovering over her head.

"Oh, it's not going to rain again by the looks of things," the human woman told her gem companion. "There's no need to do that."

"I thought the sunlight might be bothering you," Kimberlite replied, smiling unassumingly. "Your complexion was a little flushed."

Sadie laughed and shook her head, suddenly not feeling embarrassed in the slightest. "You know what? It _is_ a little hot out today. Thanks, Kim."

The gem's eyes practically sparkled and taking a deep breath, she felt the need to petition Sadie a little further. "Forgive me, but there is something that I must ask of you."

 _God, her Medieval Fair way of talking was really starting to grow on Sadie._

"Oh yeah? Ask away."

"This morning, your mom referred to me as…your friend…"

"…uh, yeah, she did."

"Do you…consider us to be friends?"

Sadie stopped in her tracks, stumbling a little against the wall of the bubble and Kimberlite obligingly dissipated it.  
The gem's eyes were completely serious and her face was lined with anxiousness.

"Well, sure I do. If you want us to be friends…then, sure we are."

It definitely wasn't Miss Miller's imagination that the gem upon Kimberlite's forearm gave a brief but brilliant flash as they continued their walk.

"…I...I…thank you!"

"No prob, Bob."

* * *

 _Thank you for reading!  
It's a bit short but I wanted to give an update.  
_


	9. Chapter 9

**Morning**

"There are no stars in your sky."

For some reason, Sadie found it oddly sweet when Kimberlite referred to features of the Earth with a direct possessive pronoun. It made her feel as though she had suddenly become the sole monarch and owner of the planet itself.  
Her favourites included "your ground", "your air", "your gravity" and now she could add "your sky" to the list.

While it wasn't something she was dedicated to deeply reflecting on, every conversation they had _was_ a raw and informal instance of interplanetary discourse.  
Sadie Miller was now an ambassador for the entire human race.

"Well, yeah there are. You just can't see them right now because it's too bright out. It's easier to see them at night. I guess it was probably too cloudy last night to see them. Beach City doesn't get too much light pollution so the night sky is actually really beautiful. Heh, the perks of living in a small town pretending to be metro, I guess."

It was mornings like this that the little seaside tourist trap was Sadie's favourite place in the whole world.

"So listen," she told Kimberlite. "Last night you said that you wanted to meet Steven and the gems, right? Well, I messaged him before we left and he said he can meet us at the Big Doughnut today. I can take you back to the woods on my lunch break…" She scratched the back of her neck, bashful. "It'll mean you've gotta hang around the Big Doughnut for a few hours but it's not as boring as you'd think and-!"

"Will you be there for the duration of my time at the Big Doughnut?"

"Yeah, sure."

"In that case, this plan sounds perfect."

The newly risen, springtime sun glazed the rooftops a soft honey colour and the faint distant rush of the rolling tides provided the perfect soundtrack for a familiar route to work.  
The ever present smell of car engines and mowed lawns was practically blanketed by the vivacious, slow-burn scent of sea-salt.  
Peace was prevalent and it was all almost cinematically perfect.

As though it wanted to add its own cameo to the already fairytale scene, a butterfly flitted past, barely brushing against Sadie's nose.  
She let out a small shout and watched as the sweet little thing drunkenly drifted over to the gem at her side.

Kimberlite flinched slightly, immediately lifting a hand, seemingly in protection.

"Oh! That's just a butterfly!" Sadie exclaimed quickly, realising that the gem was probably terrified. "They're harmless. It'll go away on its own."

But the human woman was surprised when Kimberlite's face broke into a smile and her body gave into a small bow as the butterfly made its dotting exit.

"It's alright," she informed Sadie, completely reassured in the wake of her human's guide bewilderment. "We've met already."

As they neared the centre of town, signs of life began to show themselves.  
This was typical of Beach City in the early morning; with the bulk of the town being comprised of family run businesses, it was only to be expected that the heart of the city would be awake and alive long before sunrise.

Kofi Pizza was busy prepping the shopfront, under the watchful, bespectacled eye of Nanefua.  
He looked up as the duo passed, nodding to them. "Good morning."

"Good morning, Mr Pizza!" Sadie called back with the obligatory Beach City salute: a smile and a wave.

Kimberlite flinched a little as though she'd been stung by static electricity, doubling back and instantly garnering the human woman's concern.  
Sadie lowered her voice as they walked onward. "Is something the matter?"

The gem looked straight ahead, her cheeks turning dark and her own voice a bare whisper: "I do not know that person. I do not know their rank or their work status."

"So?" the human placed her hand on the gem's shoulder. "Kofi was just being friendly. None of that stuff matters…" Sadie's voice trailed off as she realised something. "But it matters where you're from, doesn't it?"

Kimberlite nodded, her eyes sliding sideways to look at the human as she moved a little closer. Her countenance was nervous to say the least, her hands clasped in front of her. "To speak openly to one not of your class is considered extremely rude at best and at worst?" She looked downward, looking suddenly rather perturbed. "I-I've seen rep-repeat offenders subjected to…to…"

The look in her eyes reminded Sadie of the way Ronaldo's eyes had looked when she had heard him talk about his friendship with Lars or the way Steven's eyes had looked whenever someone brought up the topic of his mother.

It was the look of someone burdened but unable to properly verbalise their burden.

"You don't have to say anything," Sadie told her with a wide smile. It was slightly forced but the intent was very genuine. "It's ok. For the record, here in Beach City if someone says hi, there's no punishment for saying it back. Doesn't matter who you are or what you do."

It was at this point that Sadie realised that they had stopped walking.

Kimberlite's eyes practically sparkled and she suddenly turned around, her voice raising to the very tops of her (metaphorical) lungs as she shouted: "HI!"

Kofi and Nanefua both jumped a little, surprised by the sudden salutation but both of their nonplussed expressions fell to natural, (if not slightly weirded-out) smiles as they waved back.

The gem was quivering from head to toe, a wide smile on her face as they made their way towards town.  
She happily greeted the Frymans, Mr Smiley, Yellowtail, Mayor Dewey (and Buck- who seemed a little less than enthusiastic to be dragged from his bed at this hour of the morning) and her voice was louder and more confident with every new encounter.

Sadie checked her watch as they neared the Big Doughnut.

"Hey, check it out. It's only ten after seven. I've got a little time before opening. Wanna go for a walk along the beach front?"

Kimberlite looked as though she'd just been asked to be queen of her own world and Earth and the human's smile was almost as big as hers as the gem scrambled forward.  
There was something about that kind of excitement that made Sadie inexplicably happy.

The wind picked up a little as they neared the strand.

Sadie found herself doing a double-take at her own reflection in a nearby car window, squinting at the slightly quivering image and grimacing. Her hair was flossy, lifting in thread-like wires at her scalp and slightly slicked to her scalp where a none-to-glamorous sheen of perspiration was evident.  
Small things like the russet speckles on the bridge of her nose and the unflattering way the bulk of her jacket settled just a few inches shy of her actual shoulder line were suddenly bothering her a hundred times more than they usually would have.

She could remember other girls in her home room class back in high school making her feel somewhat self-conscious but this was a whole new level of checking herself.  
It was this alien kind of pressure to look good coupled with a kind of nervous, giddy excitement.  
And the weirdest part?  
The feeling wasn't _bad_.  
It wasn't completely unfamiliar either.  
It was the one she had felt before, just after she had pulled Kimberlite from the water, but it seemed harder to ignore now.

"Are you alright?"

An erratic sweetness pulsed in her mouth as she turned to look at the extra-terrestrial being who had addressed her. She stood with a patient repose, her hands folded neatly in front of her in wait.

"Yeah. 'm fine. Shall we, then?"  
Kimberlite fell into step at her side as they made their way across the pier, the gem's long poncho-like garment swishing at every stride. It was only then that Sadie noticed that Kimberlite had returned to her default outfit before they left the house.

Good thing she'd known not to leave the house in nothing but an oversized t-shirt.  
That could have resulted in a slightly more awkward morning walk.

She also noticed that the little plaits from the night before were still in Kimberlite's hair.

Not that it meant anything.  
But it was still something that she decided to notice.

"Hey, are you hot in that?" Sadie asked, coughing quickly and adding: "Too warm, I mean. Are you too warm in that?"

"Hm?" Kimberlite followed Sadie's gaze, pursing her lips. "Is there something wrong with my uniform? I suppose I should probably seek to fit in a bit better."

Her body was engulfed by a greenish glow for a few seconds and when the light subsided, a giggle immediately rose in Sadie's throat. Kimberlite had copied Sadie's doughnut shop attire, even adding in a scruffy rain-jacket for good measure.

"Ah, you don't have to dress exactly like me!" Sadie gestured herself. "I'm not exactly a great muse when it comes to human fashion. I just mean that maybe you dress a little…lighter? Maybe shorten your sleeves a bit? Or just get rid of the vest?"

Kimberlite looked thoughtfully at her arms for a moment before slowly shifting back to her usual attire.  
"I can regulate my body temperature without the need to alter my appearance," she said with a shrug. "But if my visual enhancers are considered out of place…"

"Well, it's not that" Sadie said quickly. "It's just that…I want you to be…comfortable…" She leaned back against the faded wooden railing. "Y-Your clothes are really, really nice though. Very…uh…functional-looking."

Kimberlite sighed, smiling faintly. "On _my_ planet, my attire would be considered very out of place." She gestured to her the turtle neck, her lips stretching into a comical frown. "Blue Diamond requests that I remain covered so that my epidermal layer is both visually neutral and well protected." She tugged on the strange chiton, stretching out the blue coloured patterns. "And this is just for ornamentation… _and_ recognition I guess. Every gem is required to wear their Diamond's emblem as a show of pride when in public. I'm never really allowed out in public but…" The gem gave a nervous little smile, her head lowering a little. "My Pearl says if I ever were to get lost, the first person to find me would know the Diamond to whom I belong…and they could return me…"

Sadie watched Kimberlite's expression with great care, taking stock of the small lines that appeared in her forehead- each crease adding a little more weight to the human's heart.  
There was something unsettling about the detached way that the gem spoke of her home and particularly this Blue Diamond individual.  
Originally, Sadie had assumed that the Diamond acted as some kind of guardian to Kimberlite and that her running away was simply an impulsive, petulant act of rebellion but when she compared the way the gem spoke about Blue Diamond to her own loved ones…there was an evident note of something between fear and spite.

Perhaps Blue Diamond was not best compared to Kimberlite's mother.

She was lost for words for a moment, desperately wanting to say something reassuring or positive or _intelligent_ but not having the slightest idea what she could possibly offer to rectify a situation that she essentially knew nothing about.

"Well…you're not on your planet right now…are you?"

Stating simple facts was the best Sadie could muster and for a split second, she felt stupid for even having opened her mouth.  
This downward spiral ended abruptly when both of Kimberlite's hands were suddenly on her shoulders, her eyebrows shooting into hairline.

"You're right. I'm not."

She closed her eyes, signalling that the clothes-changing glow was about to make its return but at this sudden, close proximity, Sadie was afforded a truly ethereal sight.  
At close range, what had once simply been a pulsing light could now be clearly identified as hundreds, if not thousands, of tiny, iridescent beads of crystal.  
The tiny orbs seemed to be involved in some kind of ornate dance, speedily rearranging their position as the light gradually faded away.

When Sadie's eyes readjusted again, Kimberlite was simply left standing in the body suit she had been wearing underneath the chiton though now, her sleeves had been shortened to her elbows and the collar was now short enough to put her neck on show.

"Do I look alright?" the grey-skinned alien asked anxiously, preening a little and lifting her hands to give her arms a flex.

"Yeah…perfect," Sadie told her, her voice burbling a little as she hastily added: "Not that you didn't look good before…it's just now…you…you look good…also…"

The human had never wanted so badly to slam her forehead into one of the wooden bollards that held up the pier.  
Or at least, that was her most prominent desire until Kimberlite gave her a low bow and a wide smile, declaring:

"With your help, I shall master the human habit of changing my appearance regularly in no time at all!"

Sadie couldn't help but envy the gem's ability to be so gracefully awkward in everything she did and despite that envy, she couldn't help but smile back.

"Heh, I'm happy to help."

 **Rebel**

She had kept the braids.

She wondered if Sadie noticed that she had kept the braids.

She didn't want to draw Sadie's attention to it verbally, (how uncouth would that have been?), but she did so desperately want Sadie to notice that she had kept the braids.

Specifically, she had kept the braids that Sadie had so carefully woven into her hair the night before.  
Kimberlite had considered phasing them out when she had changed her clothes but she had decided that such an action was vastly unfavourable.

For one thing, these braids were clearly a staple of Earth culture and it was important that she tried her best to adhere to it.  
From what she'd heard about travelling to other planets, one's stay could be greatly impacted based on how one interacted with the locals.

For another thing entirely, Kimberlite couldn't remember the last time someone had put so much time and effort into doing something for her without being directly ordered/obliged to do so.  
Sadie had gifted her with this hair-art because she _wanted_ to.  
Not because she had to.

Had anyone _ever_ done something for her simply because they _wanted_ to?

Of course her personal staff always acted as though catering to her was their one and only desire and true, they were carrying out the purposes for which they were designed but …

…Kimberlite couldn't help but notice a miniscule sigh of boredom escape her Jasper's ochre lips or a twinge of exasperation in her Pearl's azure brow. Then she would always feel a little tristful and quite a pang of guilt when she realised that serving a kept gem that was never allowed to leave an underground storage area was probably one of the least fulfilling jobs that a working gem could be asked to do.

Of course, she never felt spiteful enough to fully resent the fact that she was never allowed to leave Blue Diamonds' temple.  
Usually, she was able to dissipate any negative feelings by reasoning that her function in society demanded that she stay safe and out of harm's way.  
But that was just her programming, wasn't it?

Pearls and Jaspers were made to do long-running, immersive, laborious and stamina-demanding tasks…so maybe it was only natural that they didn't want to spend all of their time carrying out the repetitive rituals that were required of them while caring for her?

Maybe it wasn't right that gems made for grand palaces and tumultuous battlefields were reduced to spending all of their time in just a few small rooms.

Her staff worked well together, in spite of this and she could respect that.

In particular, her Jasper and Pearl worked well together in a rare but not unheard of combination.  
Jasper's fierce, passionate attitude seemed to compliment Pearl's quiet, concentrated serenity.  
From time to time, Kimberlite would notice strange little occurrences when the two were in each other's company.

It was customary for Jasper to provide her with a security report every three days.  
It wasn't that anything dangerous or suspicious ever happened in that district or that Kimberlite ever really understood much about anything Jasper ever had to tell her but the conversation was always appreciated.

Pearl had been sitting at her back, combing out her hair. She felt the serving gem's slender fingers grow tense in against her scalp and an uncharacteristic tremble come to her hands as Jasper began to speak.

Kimberlite usually preferred to star-gaze while listening to reports, (none of her staff were particularly demanding of eye contact), but when she did occasionally glance sideways at the tall, muscular gem, she quickly noticed that Jasper wasn't even looking at her.

She was looking at Pearl.  
And she could see in the image reflected by the tiles beneath her chaise that Pearl was looking straight back at Jasper.  
And that Pearl was smiling.

Kimberlite couldn't judge from the positioning of Earth's sun but she could guess that all of her personal staff would be taking part in the festivities of the Eclipse Congregation now.

After all, every gem was by right invited to attend the gatherings.  
Her caretakers would be no doubt walking through the citadels and arenas right now, rubbing elbows with their own kind and class while swapping stories, discussing opinions and enjoying the great spectacle that the dancing celestial bodies in the sky offered to them.

Kimberlite had only ever asked to attend the festivities once.

" _My Diamond?"_

 _"_ _Yes, Kimberlite. Does something trouble you?"_

 _"_ _No, my Diamond…well, not quite…I simply…I just…"  
_  
She looked up from under long, cerulean robes, the fine cloths draped over her head. Large, rarely seen eyes met that of the much smaller gem.

 _"_ _Take your time. Think about what you want to say before you speak. Then, when you've thought of it: speak fluidly and with conviction."_

Blue Diamond's gaze retreated beneath her hood once again and gathering her mettle once more, Kimberlite repeated her attempts:

 _"_ _I have something to ask of you."_

 _"_ _Oh? And what is it that you require? Surely, it is something that I have already provided for you…"_

 _"_ _I …I want to attend the Eclipse Congregation."_

 _"…_ _you may wait outside the gallery with my Pearl as you usually do. When I have concluded my meeting with White and Yellow Diamond, I will take you to the observatory as always. You can be certain of that."_

 _"_ _That's not…I…I wish to attend the public viewings…"_

Blue Diamond was silent for a moment before responding with her coldest tone- the tone she specifically reserved for speaking to those who had disappointed her most gravely.  
Kimberlite was completely unused to hearing this and she immediately recoiled beneath the folds of her Diamond's long robes.

 ** _"…_** ** _why?"_**

 _"_ _I…I…have seen the archive logs of the mass festivities and …gems of all kinds seem so happy to experience the alignments as a group. Everyone always looks so excited and peaceful and…lots of different gems are just standing together and…"_

 _"_ _Kimberlite…"  
_ Blue Diamond's sigh was demure and soft- completely characteristic of the great matriarch- but somehow it managed to echo, resounding through the chamber like a howling wind.  
It silenced the small, igneous gem entirely.

 _"_ _Kimberlite, have I not- on multiple occasions-expressed to you my feelings about you leaving my Temple?"_

 _"_ _W-well, yes but…"_

 _"_ _And have I not given you many reasons why I feel this way?"_

 _"_ _You have and I und-…"_

 _"_ _What is the primary reason?"_

 _"_ _My Diamond, I did not mean to-…"_

 _"_ _ **What is the primary reason?"**_

Now it was Kimberlite's turn to sigh.

 _"_ _Because…an injury inflicted upon me is an injury inflicted upon the Diamond Authority…"_

 _"_ _And?"_

 _"_ _And an injury inflicted upon the Diamond Authority is an attack on our Homeworld…"_

 _"_ _And?"_

 _"_ _And an attack on our Homeworld is an attack on all of Gemkind."_

 _"_ _Which would be?"_

 _"_ _Treacherous and selfish."_

Kimberlite had never so badly wanted to evaporate into nothingness, her entire body feeling heavy and a slow pain spreading across her chest.

A barbed silence began to set in and desperate to stop it, the transfusion gem forced herself to say:

" _I am sorry, my Diamond. I did not mean to insult you or...anyone…"_

The magnificent megalith, towering above her, waited a little longer than usual before finally responding:

 _"_ _You are forgiven."_

" _Th-Thank you…"_

Kimberlite felt foolish and feeble to begin to cry in front of her Diamond and she was surprised to feel the grand matriarch's finger upon the crown of her head.

" _Everything that I do is for your wellbeing, Kimberlite. Do I not offer you every comfort that could be afforded to any gem? Do I not provide you with education and protection? Do I not take you with me to ceremonies? To my official business? Do you not understand how many gems would fight with claws extended to have your position?"_

The igneous gem sniffed, coughing slightly and trying to summon her voice again. " _Yes, yes…I am sorry."_

Blue Diamond continued to passively stroke her head in silence until a small troupe of Pearls arrived to escort Kimberlite back to her chambers.  
If any of the serving gems found her dishevelled state strange or disconcerting, they managed to hide it quite well.

Kimberlite was staggering to her feet, wiping her eyes when Blue Diamond asked her a final question.

 _"_ _If you so desire to partake in the Congregation's activities, I would not protest to you attending the Congregation Ball- providing that you were well chaperoned, of course. Is that something that you would like?"_

The grey skinned gem couldn't think properly, practically hiding behind her own hair as she shook her head. She couldn't stop Blue Diamond's words from earlier echoing in her ears. She was a selfish gem and it was wrong of her to have even asked to attend part of the Congregation.

" _No, my Diamond…my humblest thank yous, but…no." S_ he tried her best to clear her voice. _"I should keep myself out of potentially unsafe environments. That's what is best."_

She could hear a smile in Blue Diamond's voice as she softly replied.

 _"_ _Very wise of you, my Kimberlite. You are learning."_

At that moment in time, Kimberlite couldn't have felt less like the trembling gem who had been escorted from Blue Diamond's citadel.  
There she was, on a dangerous, uncolonised planet, fraternising with one of the locals.  
No gem protector.  
No chaperone, (well, she wasn't going to count Peridot's auditory probe as a physical presence anyway).  
Short sleeves.  
No diamond emblem to be seen.

Sadie came to sit on a small section of sloping rocks, patting the space beside her, inviting her companion to take a seat.  
Kimberlite couldn't help but feel light-headed as she folded herself into the spot.  
In such close proximity, the gem could see all of the marvellous colours in Sadie's face and all of the wonderful, unique markings across her face.

The human's beauty was sufficient to completely distract her from her surroundings, however strange or interesting they may have been.

She found her eyes travelling down to Sadie's hand as the human gestured out to the great body of water before them, telling her a humorous anecdote about something called a "jelly-fish."

Her fingernails were tinted a delicate lilac and while her fingers were slightly calloused, her palms looked soft.  
Kimberlite had never so desperately in her entire life wanted to take someone's hand in her own. She had no particular reason for wanting to do so other than the simple, lucid knowledge that feeling Sadie's skin against hers was one of the most comforting feelings in this galaxy and maybe lots of other galaxies too.

She sighed contentedly and scanned their surroundings after finally managing to tear her eyes from the woman beside her.  
After a few minutes of squinting at the horizon, she noticed a growing silhouette.  
It didn't take long for Kimberlite to identify what it was.

"The avian life on your planet is similar to ours," she commented, sitting up on the rock to examine the distant being that appeared to be gaining distance across the rippling waves.

"Oh yeah?" Sadie chuckled. "You guys have seagulls back where you come fro-?"  
The human woman followed the gem's line of sight and her words fell to a horrified silence, her breath falling short in her throat. "Wh-?! That's-?!"

Kimberlite's own eyes widened at the sight of her friend's mounting fear. "What is it? Is this creature not indigenous to this area?"

The winged beast was getting closer now, its four vermillion eyes locked on the pair.  
As it rapidly approached, it became painfully obvious that the birdlike being was far bigger than it had initially appeared.

"Th-that's not a seagull!" Sadie spluttered, grabbing Kimberlite by the arm. "It's one of those-! Those-! Never mind, we gotta go! Now!"

The beast's shadow was directly over them before the gem was even able to get to her feet.

Kimberlite could see the fear in both of their eyes, reflected in the gem embedded into the blackened plumage of the beast's chest.

Without thinking, she took immediately took Sadie's hand.

And despite being sick with fear, she felt a small thrum of elation when the human's fingers wrapped around hers.


	10. Chapter 10

**Brave**

If Kimberlite searched the furthest recesses of her mind, she could remember a rather puzzling incident that had taken place just a little before the initial preparations for the Eclipse Congregation.

There was the familiar scurrying about, frenzied reactions to new timetables and scrambles to get every wall, pillar and alcove decorated to perfection lest any high ranking aristocrat made an impromptu visit.  
In the middle of it all, Kimberlite – who was never permitted to do anything to help out- had a chance to consider that with everyone so distracted, now would be the perfect time to plan her trip to the forbidden planet known as Earth.

Her staff were usually recruited to assist with the adorning and protection of Blue Diamond's Temple and thus it wasn't unheard of for them to vanish from her personal quarters for hours on end.

Kimberlite knew she needed a Peridot to assist her with getting out of the launch bay. One of the angularly-interesting, green tinged gems seemed like the best and safest option.  
Peridots were one of the few types of gem to have knowledge of engineering, piloting and the planning of lengthy expeditions.  
Not to mention, a Peridot was just lowly enough in rank that Kimberlite could possibly bribe one of them into keeping quiet about the not-so-little "adventure" she had planned.

She hadn't initially planned to resort to blackmail.  
That had been an unfortunate and panicked last minute change of plan.

The transfusion gem herself had been pacing in her personal chamber, doing lap after lap around the fountain.  
It was vital that she sought a Peridot as soon as possible but how to obtain the right one?

It had to be one from Blue Diamond's court, naturally.  
White Diamond's Peridots were strictly hackers and Yellow Diamond's Peridots had a reputation for being slightly... _difficult_ about certain things.  
Particularly pertaining to off-planet work.

Temple gossip was quite literally the best source of information that Kimberlite had ever had the pleasure to happen upon.

She also had to cook up some kind of believable excuse for needing a private appointment with one so urgently. It needed to be outstanding and unavoidable but yet so banal that it wouldn't turn the head of any Aquamarine or Topaz who was overseeing the daily movements in the Temple.

Eventually she settled on a fairly plausible lie; that she was having trouble with her communication systems.  
It was important that her channels remained in good working order at all times, should she need to be summoned by Blue Diamond, faults in the communications systems were fairly common and additionally, they'd only be able to call in one of the Blue court's Peridots as they were the only ones acquainted with the localised systems in that area.

It was perfect.

Careful not to make a spectacle of herself lest a security team was covertly watching her, Kimberlite broke from her pacing and scurried over to the giant doors that served as the only entrance to her personal rooms.

Calling for help via her telecom unit would only serve to break the ruse that her communication system wasn't functioning properly, so she would have to send one of her personal staff as a messenger.

She was just about to type in the pass-key to open the doors, silently praying to the stars that her staff hadn't left the building in its entirety, when her ears caught the faint murmuring of a familiar voice outside of the door.

It was her Pearl.  
She must have been doing some tidying in the small corridor between her rooms and the main hall.  
She knew it had to be _her_ Pearl for two reasons.  
One: her voice was utterly unmistakable. It was a slightly nasal lilt that Kimberlite had become well accustomed to hearing over the many hundreds of conversations that they'd shared.  
Two: she was in the corridor right outside of Kimberlite's room.

She was the only Pearl to ever set foot in that corridor.

It was a rather confined area that not many gems knew about.  
Due to a vital component of the Diamond's survival being housed there, the small dimly lit stretch was kept on a need-to-know basis.

"Brilliant," thought Kimberlite. "I can send her to fetch me a Peridot; she won't ask too many questi- …"

The igneous gem's thoughts were briefly derailed when she suddenly heard another voice through the door. It was slightly muffled and much deeper and gruffer than her Pearl's but it wasn't unfamiliar either.

It was her Jasper.  
 _Her_ voice was also unmistakable.

"Funny," the gangly, grey gem thought, a little perplexed. "I thought her timetable said that she would be on patrol in the citadel today. What's she doing in the corridor outside my room?"

Instinctively spurred by her own interests, Kimberlite leaned a little closer to the door, pressing her cheek against its cold, smooth surface as she tried to make out what was being said.

They were both speaking in hushed tones but were standing close enough to the door for their superior to hear their conversation.

"You shouldn't be down here," her Pearl was saying, anxiety weighing down her usually soft and passive trill.

"I know but I needed to see you," the Jasper told her earnestly. "I needed to be with you. You know you're my favourite passtime when I'm off duty."

"Very sweet," came a slightly bemused reply. "But you could see me and be with me at the Congregation Ball and there would be much less of a risk involved!"

"That's different." Jasper growled faintly in seeming frustration. "Standing beside you and making flowery small talk isn't my idea of enjoying your company."

"I know," Pearl told her, sighing deeply. "It isn't exactly to my liking either but we haven't got much of choice now, have we?"

"We've got _now_ , haven't we?"

"If we get caught-!"

"We won't."

"But if we _do_ -!"

"At least we can say that it was worth it."

There was a break in their conversation for a few seconds and if Kimberlite had a heart, it would have been racing a mile a minute. She leaned closer still, her face almost aching as it pressed against the door, the polished steel bearing into her cheek.

The silence was only broken by the ruffling of fabrics, an odd lapping sound that Kimberlite couldn't place at all accompanied by what sounded like little, sharp intakes of breath.  
"How strange," she thought. "Gems don't need to breathe."

Pearl, however, sounded like she was suffering from a distinct lack of oxygen when she finally spoke again. This time she sounded much happier.

"Careful," she chided playfully. "Lumbering Quartz…"

"Weak, little Pearl," Jasper teased back, also sounding positively delighted with whatever was going on outside the door. She exhaled contentedly. "I wish we could do this a little more often."

"Maybe we could."

"Huh?"

"I was just thinking: we're not exactly in the normal stations of gems of our kind. Supposing we made our…situation known to our Kimberlite. She's innocent. _Impressionable_. She barely understands Homeworld Society the way most gems do. I doubt she'd take any issue with us spending some more time together."

Kimberlite herself, wasn't too sure how she felt about being referred to as "innocent" and "impressionable" but she was far too interested in trying to decipher what was going on between her Jasper and her Pearl to dwell on the matter.

"What?" Jasper gave a low bark of sardonic laughter. "Pearl, what planet are you living on? Even if Kimberlite isn't the sharpest cut in the facet batch, she's still the Diamonds' first aid kit. Who knows how long it'd take before she'd let something slip to big Blue?"

Behind the door, the "Diamonds' first aid kit" squeezed her eyes tight, her hands clenching the folds of her chiton.  
Those words stung.  
It didn't bother her to think that other gems thought her to be ignorant or even a little less than bright. However, to suggest that she was some kind of spineless informant? Was that what all of her service gems thought of her?

"Maybe if we explained to her that she couldn't repeat it to anyone?" Pearl's voice faltered slightly.

"You think her loyalty to us is above her loyalty to the Diamond Authority?"

"…perhaps not." Pearl's crestfallen words were so full of despair that Kimberlite could practically hear her head dipping forward. Her voice started to tremble slightly, reminding her eavesdropping superior of the way the pearl's hands had trembled when she had been brushing Kimberlite's hair. "It's…it's just not fair."

Jasper's voice softened, to a beautifully comforting tone that Kimberlite had never heard a Quartz produce before. "Hey...I get it, you want to believe in everyone. You court girls are so trusting…and so _soft_ too. Don't go crying on me now."

More shifting noises.  
Fabric rustling.  
Soft breaths.

Kimberlite heard Pearl sniff loudly, an audible smile in her slightly-muffled voice. "We can't all be hardened warriors now, can we, officer?"

"Maybe not," Jasper laughed at first but her initial mirth gave way to another heavy, tired-sounding sigh. "You're right though. It _isn't_ fair. If we were stationed somewhere else…on one of the colonies…in one of the other temples…if I was from the barracks and you were privately owned…we couldn't have this. No chance."

"We might have found a way."

"Pearl, there are places on this planet where gems like me would get shattered for even _looking_ at gems like you."

"Don't say that. Even if we _were_ caught, you're a decorated officer with a good track record and -…"

"They say that there are two types of gem, right? The type made to rule and the type made to serve? Well military gems- rubies, jaspers, carnelians, amethysts- all of us. We all know that's not true. There are three types of gems. Types to rule, types to serve and types to die…and that's what I am. I was made to be destroyed if necessary. In battle or in defence. Dead in the name of the Homeworld's safety." Jasper's gravelly voice reduced to a whisper. "And I'm not saying it's gonna happen any time soon but believe me when I say that the Authority do not hold my life in any kind of high regard."

" _I_ do," Pearl insisted, whispering now too. "And I don't imagine that if we were caught that I'd be spared any punishment either." She gave a small snort. "I mean, if you're "made to die", what does that make me? I'm just a pearl. They can literally make me again, one hundred times over, if needed."

"You're just about the most wonderful, crazy, beautiful Pearl I've ever met and trust me when I say that they'll _never_ be able to make you again," the Jasper replied, amidst some high-pitched giggles from the Pearl.

"Jasper! Don't you dare! Stop that! Stop that this instant!"

"Or you'll what? Stars, don't you know how to make threats? For a Pearl, you give orders like General Smokey Quartz."

"For a soldier, you're not very good at obeying orders!"

"What can I say? It's a defect I was made with…"

More giggling.

Kimberlite didn't know what the officer and the servant were doing but it sounded like the latter wasn't _that_ opposed to the former's actions.

"Maybe one day we won't have to hide anymore,"

"Maybe not."

"And until then, you and I are just gonna have to be brave."

"I think we can manage that."

"And like I said before, we've just gotta make every moment worth it, right…?" Jasper hesitated for a moment- an oddity for a gem trained for situations of war- before quietly adding. "…my Pearl?"

Kimberlite's body seized as she realised for the first time what extremely illicit activity was transpiring right outside of her door.  
It was also then that she realised for the first time that she had fallen to her knees.

"Right." Pearl replied breathily daring to add: "My Jasper."

There was a long silence after this and Kimberlite decided to move away from the doors, returning to her perch on the edge of her personal fountain.

Suddenly, getting a Peridot didn't seem so urgent anymore. In fact, Kimberlite felt entirely numb.  
It was when she caught her own reflection in the surface of the water and met the gaze of her own eyes that a jolt of anxiety shot through her. Kimberlite decided that she needed to forget having ever heard this conversation as quickly as possible.  
She could live with knowing that her servants didn't trust her.  
Most of them knew that Blue Diamond could usually wrench whatever response she needed from her carefully trained transfusion gem.

But what she had just heard raised far too many questions than she was able to handle at that point in time.

Her lips shook a little when her Pearl eventually entered her chambers that evening. She managed to stammer out a relatively normal greeting in response to Pearl's blithe smile.

"Eventful day?" Pearl asked her, summoning a comb from her gem and sitting at Kimberlite's back.

"N-No…not really…"Kimberlite replied. "And you?"

"Me? No, never," the servant informed her, not a single wrinkle of guilt or deceit in her content, relaxed tone. "Just the usual madness. It baffles me why everyone insists on starting preparations for the Eclipse Congregation so late. Every year, there's this insane panic about whether we'll get all of the decorations up in time. Somehow, we always manage it."

Kimberlite was barely listening.  
She badly wanted to bring up what she had heard earlier that day but she didn't know how to do it.  
She didn't know what to say so that she wouldn't upset or frighten Pearl.

She looked down at her own hands, lacing and unlacing her fingers, eventually lifting her gaze to stare out at the stars.  
How would it feel to want to die for anyone else but the Diamonds?  
Was it possible to even feel that way?  
Evidently so.  
Evidently despite what was rumoured about their programming, gems could feel something deeper than respect for each other.

Or maybe it was just other gems.  
Maybe it was only gems that weren't the Diamonds' "personal first aid kit."

Maybe she'd never know.

"Hey Pearl?"

"Yes, my Kimberlite."

"Could you maybe…uh…send a Peridot up here as soon as you can? There's a fault with my communications system and it won't turn on properly."

"Of course, my Kimberlite."

Again, there was not a single trace of deception in Pearl's voice.  
How long had her servant's relations with her bodyguard been going on for?

That was another question that Kimberlite decided against asking.

She decided that Pearl and Jasper needed her not to talk about it and simply to enjoy the time that they had together during the Eclipse Congregation.  
And like Jasper said, they needed to be brave.  
 _She_ needed to be brave too.

That was precisely why she didn't give in to the ever-beckoning temptation to cancel her request for a Peridot.

Brave.

She was going to be brave.

This memory suddenly came rushing back to Kimberlite at that very moment in time because crouched under a rock, inches from being speared by the mighty bill of a gem beast, crying and mewling- she had never felt like more of a coward.

Sadie had her arm draped over Kimberlite's shoulders.

It was the extremely resourceful human who had managed to drag them both into a crevice between two rocks beneath them.  
The terrifying bird's beak was far too large to fit between the rocks to reach them but if it kept attacking with that force, it wouldn't be too long before it prised its way in.

Kimberlite tried desperately to use the magic trick that she was able to do sometimes.  
The one that Blue Diamond would forbid her from doing ever again if she knew about it.

It was no use though: she couldn't activate her gem when she was this stressed.

She caught Sadie's eye and the woman smiled shakily at her.  
Even under this kind of pressure, the human had a kind of unrelenting strength about her that Kimberlite partially envied and greatly admired.

Sunlight stole through the crevice as the massive bird drew back for yet another vicious attack.

The two women braced themselves, Kimberlite squeezing Sadie's hand- still firmly in hers in anticipation of both of their physical forms vanishing.

Only the attack never came.

Kimberlite looked up to see the bird disappear in a cloud of smoke following a deafening whipcrack.

Suddenly, a large, purple blur shot past the opening between the rocks with a loud cry of:

"Get dunked on, bird-boy!"

* * *

 _A bit shorter than I would have liked and it covers a lot less ground too, but I hope this chapter is alright!  
Good news, I will now be able to update on a weekly basis so no more crazily long waits!  
_

 _Thank you so very much for reading!  
Drop me a line if you'd like :D _


	11. Chapter 11

**First Shower**

"Kimberlite?"

" _Yes, my Diamond?"_

"What are you doing behind my chaise? Come out, this instant."

" _Yes, my Diamond."_

"What were you doing back there?"

"… _nothing, my Diamond."  
_

Another clatter.  
The lights above Blue Diamond's mighty, magnificent head began to flicker sporadically.

"You are trembling. Why are you trembling? Are you cold? Have you forgotten how to regulate your body temperature again?"

" _Not to my knowledge, my Diamond."_

"Come here." A huge hand beckoned the tiny, newly-formed gem at the Diamond's feet, a towering gaze swivelling down to survey her face. "Have you been crying?"

The small face lowered to look downwards.

"… _only a little, my Diamond."_

Blue Diamond heaved a sigh that felt like a tempest wind to the smaller gem before leaning down to gingerly scoop the kimberlite into her hand.  
Placed upon her lap, the little transfusion gem managed to stumble into a maladroit sitting position.  
She was fairly tall by the standard of most non-military gems but perched precariously between her Diamond's knees, the kimberlite had never been so dwarfed.

"You needn't keep using the formal title during these sittings, Kimberlite," the matriarch of gems informed her. "Just upon meeting me and upon leaving me. Any more than that would serve to besmirch your status."

" _Y-Yes, my Diam-…oh, yes. Yes, I understand."_

"Why were you crying, Kimberlite?"

" _It's just that…uh, it's…it is fairly immaterial."_

She was still shivering.

"Come now. It is of great importance that you remain comfortable and without significant stress. Now, what is troubling you?"

She was a trifle more timid than Blue Diamond would have liked but all in all, petulance wouldn't have suited a gem of her occupation.  
Another meteor met its loud and violent end at the hands of defence lasers only metres above their heads.  
Outside the temple, the storm was still raging violently.  
It had gone on for a long time, even by the standards of the weather they had been recently experiencing.

Something dawned on the great blue gem for the first time.

"Is this the first time you've experienced a meteor shower?"

" _Yes…"_

The Diamond's brow lifted.

"You needn't be afraid. We are well protected, as you have witnessed. Unfounded fear is a waste of energy…"

The kimberlite's small body curled up a little more.  
 _"I apologise."_

Blue Diamond watched the small gem with interest for a moment and then, experimentally patted the tiny, grey head with the pad of her finger.  
It mildly surprised her to feel Kimberlite's head pressing back into her touch- clearly seeking the physical attention.

"Odd," Blue Diamond thought and abruptly decided that this was something that would need to be addressed in Kimberlite's next bout of behavioural modification.

Despite this programming-conflicting behaviour, the Diamond also felt the desire to say:  
"Though while unfounded fear is a waste of energy…the admission of fear is also important…it is by telling others of our worries that we learn that they are unfounded to begin with. Seek knowledge. Don't give into ignorance."

As Kimberlite looked up into eyes of the one who had sanctioned her creation, she felt safety for the first time.

It was only a lunar cycle later that she would feel the sting of her Diamond's hypocrisy for the first time.  
Despite this, that memory held begrudging warmth for her.

 _ **Faux Pas**_

"Up top, Ste-man!"

Steven happily accepted Amethyst's offer for a high five and couldn't help but laugh throughout his protests as he was instantly dragged into a heavy limbed noogie.

"Hey! Cut it out! Ha Ha! _Amethyst!_ Cut it out, already!"

It was only when the purple gem finally relinquished him from the affectionate though vice-like grip, that Steven had a chance to notice what the corrupted gem had been pecking at between the rocks.

"Sadie?!"

"…h-hey Steven…" His co-favourite Big Doughnut employee offered him a shaky smile as she started to climb out from her hiding place.

"Oh snap! C'mere. Let me help you," the young man spluttered, stumbling forwards to grab her hand. "Let me…lemme help…you…"

The boy's voice slowed as he noticed a second pair of wide, green eyes staring out from the limpid-marked rocks.  
Sadie gratefully accepted his help as she pulled her way back into the sunlight, massaging her wrists as she followed Steven's gaze.

"Oh! Uh, this is Kimberlite. Remember? I mentioned her over the phone? You said you could maybe help her out?"

Steven stared down at the partially shadowed figure for a moment, only nodding in response.  
Everything Garnet had told him about her seemed both vital and completely unnecessary at the same time.  
Right now, he was looking right into the eyes of the being that essentially made the Diamonds- who weren't the nicest of folks from what he'd seen and heard- immortal.

He wasn't as intimidated as he thought he'd be.

Though he did suddenly remember something he'd been trying to forget.

He was curled up in his caterpillar sleeping bag, eyes squeezed tight, nostrils full of the damp muskiness of the barn's wooden floor.  
Slumber was just starting to drag over his eyelids, like a veil, when suddenly a sound met his ears.

It took him a few bleary-eyed and foggy-headed moments to realise that it as Pearl's voice he was hearing.

"You must have given it _some_ thought at this stage."

Maybe she and Peridot were up late, working on the drill?

"It's not that I don't consider it an option," a second voice said. "But do we really want him to see that side of us?"

It wasn't Peridot she was talking to: it was Garnet.

"I know we're not fighting anymore but that doesn't mean the war is over. If the kimberlite really was created as a failsafe then-…"

"Then surely someone would notice if she disappeared from Homeworld and never returned. There's no point in drawing any further negative attention upon us. We don't want an invasion. Again."

Pearl hummed in ill-content, finally saying with a sigh. "Of course not…it's just that…" Her voice quivered in slight hesitation. "Rose always said that she knew they'd come up with some kind of back-up plan…and that as long as they had access to that they'd always find some way to win…and she said that we needed to whatever it took to make sure that didn't happen."

"You know what that would require us to do," Garnet said, her voice deeper and more gravelly than Steven had ever remembered hearing it. "Look, Pearl…I'm with you on one thing: I'm not going to pretend that Rose didn't have that kind of side when she needed to have it…but…do we really want to show that side to Steven?"

The human boy's heart was pounding aggressively as he drew his knees closer to his chest.  
He wanted to get away from this conversation. It made him feel uncomfortable.  
But if he tried to move, he'd be letting his two dear guardians know of his unwilling eavesdropping.  
And he really didn't want that.

Pearl sniffed slightly and Steven itched to comfort her but resisted.

"Have you had any visions about it?"

"…yes."

"Am I allowed to-?"

"Not yet. But I'll let you know when the time is right. Just keep doing what you do."

"…alright…um…what exactly is it that I do?"

Steven could hear the slight smile on Garnet's lips. "Take care of the little man. He's got an important part to play in this."

The "little man" had fallen asleep a little after this and had awoken hours later, feeling a renewed sense of pressure to do something that hadn't actually learned about yet.  
That and a faint throbbing in the shoulder that Peridot had accidentally walked into.

"Hey, need a hand?"  
Amethyst's voice pulled Steven from his torpor as she leaned into the crevice to offer help to the trapped gem.

Kimberlite's green eyes grew wider and she flinched away from the quartz's hand.  
Sadie seemed to notice this immediately and she immediately crouched down.

"Hey…it's ok. These guys are here to help. They're my friends." The human woman's smile grew warmer. "Like you."

Steven was quite when Kimberlite's expression of fear immediately turned to one of elation and without another thought, she immediately put her hand in Amethyst's outstretched palm.

Clumsily getting to her feet in proper light, Kimberlite was a lot taller than she had looked when crouched in the shadow cast by the rocks.  
She wasn't quite as heighty as Garnet but she was easily a few inches above Pearl and quite broad across the shoulders to boot.

Still, there was an aura of something vulnerable about her that made it hard for him to look at her with any kind of fear or awe.

"Thank you," she breathed, giving a little bow of her head to Amethyst before scrambling over to Sadie, scooting behind her a bit. "Thank you very much…" She looked down at the human whom she seemed to be trying to disappear behind. "I didn't know you had gem beasts here on your planet! How ever do they form?!"

"Is that we were hiding from? T-To be honest, I don't really know much about those things…"

"Well, they don't show up all the time but they kinda just crawl out from old war sites and abandoned temples and junk," Amethyst chimed in, causing Kimberlite to jump a little again.

"But we usually take care of them pretty quickly," Steven added quickly, not wanting to push the new gem any further out of her already waning comfort zone.

"Oh yeah, intros," Sadie said, beckoning the gangly gem to move a little closer to the other two occupants of the beach. "Kimberlite…this is Steven and Amethyst…"

Kimberlite didn't say anything in response to this but her eyes locked with Steven's again, her expression oddly unreadable.  
For a few, emphatically awkward minutes, her eyes went from Steven's to Amethyst's and back to Steven's and back to Amethyst's.

It became increasingly obvious that the gem desperately wanted to say something but despite the words being on the edge of her lips, something was causing her to hesitate each time.

That was, until Sadie groaned slightly, leaning on her knee. "Darn it…"

"You ok?" Steven asked her, feeling quite grateful that someone had finally broken the silence.

"Yeah, m' fine. I think I just hit my knee when Kim and I had to get down under there. Might be a little bruised."

"My Sadie!"

The grey gem let out a throaty gasp and not a second later, the human woman was in her arms, scooped up into a bridal carry.  
Without a trace of any of the anxious behaviour she'd exhibited before, Kimberlite jumped down from the rock, prompting a squeal from the blonde woman.

"We must get you help!" Kimberlite insisted, setting her down. "Who knows what organic illnesses you might contract when exposed to all of these dangerous minerals!?" Her lips trembled as she looked around, scanning the sound with pupils that seemed to be turning to pinpricks. "Gah!" She immediately lifted Sadie into her arms once more. "I can't let you fester in a bath of the undead! There's shrapnel everywhere!"

" _Kim_ ," Sadie exhaled with a flustered but bemused smile as she wriggled from her would-be protector's grip. "It's ok…it's just a bruised leg at worst…I can walk and…uh…bath of the undead? Nah, sand isn't as scary as that…I mean sure it's got bacteria but…uh, help me out here, Steven."

"Uh…yeah…sand is…sand is good."

Steven wasn't quite listening to what Sadie was saying as much as he was quietly marvelling at the fact that Kimberlite hadn't taken her eyes from the human woman's face.  
In fact, she was watching her with such attentiveness, it wouldn't have been hard to believe that Sadie was the source of everything that gave her life meaning.

He recognised that exact look too.  
He felt a small smile creep on to his face.

Amethyst's smile was far from small, her teeth sinking into the knuckles of her right hand as she tried her hardest to stop laughing. "Oh my gosh…I thought Pearl was germ-crazy. This kid takes it to a whole new level…I wonder if she gets as nuts about symmetry…"

" _Amethyst,"_ Steven warned, giving her a little nudge though his worry practically evaporated when he saw that Sadie was laughing now, speaking to Kimberlite in slightly hushed tones.

"I'm such a klutz. I'm surprised I haven't got bruises all over."

"You are speaking with the gem who is made to wear a protection device. I believe _I_ am the klutz."

"You're not though! You're totally graceful! I'm the queen of klutzes."

"Yet I cannot climb between two rocks on my own. Thus I am the ruler of the klutz people."

"Well, _I_ can't dance. _I'm_ the mayor of klutzville."

"I fall into large bodies of water. I _am_ the matriarch of the klutz race!"

"You're not gonna stop until you win this, are you?"

"I am persistent…it's one of my greatest flaws…"

"Nah, I like your stubborn streak..."

"Heh," Amethyst shrugged, raising an eyebrow down at Steven. "D'ya think we're interrupting something?"

"I'm glad she's made a friend. Being on a new planet must be pretty scary," Steven grinned. "And you can't get a better quality of Earth buddy than Sadie."

"Careful. Haha, you're gonna give me an inflated ego."  
Sadie was now at Steven's side, giving his shoulder a playful punch. "Hey, I gotta head off to work now but just because you're here, maybe you guys could help Kimberlite out now?"

"You're going?" the Homeworld gem asked worriedly, her voice becoming a little more high pitched than before. "But I thought I was going to stay with you and we were going to do "hanging out"…?"

Sadie put her hand on Kimberlite's shoulder, having to stretch up a little to meet the gem's height. "Hey, don't sweat it. Steven and Amethyst can help you out with what you need…and then maybe they could bring you back here later…then we can hang out properly…that ok?" She shot a little sideways glance at the purple gem and the human gem as if asking their permission too.

With all parties, (one somewhat reluctantly), agreed, Sadie bade her farewells and headed off down the beach, back towards the Big Doughnut.

Steven noticed that Kimberlite continued to watch the slightly rushed shop employee until she completely disappeared from sight.  
It was only then that she hesitantly returned her attention back to him and Amethyst.

Her mouth was a little lop-sided from chewing her lip so violently.

"So you're from Homeworld, huh?" Amethyst drawled, seemingly deciding that another awkward silence was not in order.

"Mmhmm!" Kimberlite nodded quickly, strangely choosing to snap upright in a rigid salute while she was speaking, her face whipping from one of them to the other once more. It was at this point that Steven noticed that she wasn't really looking at their faces as much as she was peering at their gems.

Her face was rife with confusion, her limbs shaking and feeling that it was completely necessary- Steven returned the salute and they dropped the gesture in unison.

"Do you have something you wanna ask us?" he asked her encouragingly, trying to help her feel at ease.

"Are you both quartz gems?"

Steven blinked, having expected her to ask about whatever Sadie had been talking about on the phone but exchanging a quick glance with Amethyst, he replied: "Yeah, I guess we are. Well, Amethyst is for sure but me? Well I…"

"You are both very small for quartz gems."  
The comment was dry, quick and quite innocently phrased.

 _Uh_ - _oh._

Steven immediately turned his head to look at the third of his beloved guardians, gritting his teeth a little. He wasn't sure how Amethyst was dealing with Peridot's little revelation of only a few days ago.  
If she had been struggling with being told that she was essentially defective, she'd essentially been rather quiet about it.  
Reticent and incongruently temperous yet strong about the entire situation; after all that was in her nature.

Right now, Amethyst _did_ look a little bit disgruntled, her lips curling and her brows furrowing.  
Steven could see a flame quickly travelling down a wick, starting to burn out entirely and predicting the possible conflagration to come- he immediately said:

"That's how things are on Earth!" He grinned widely. "Some gems are big and some gems are small and all gems are different and whatever way they want to be!"

He spoke loudly.  
He spoke fast.

Amethyst didn't speak at all for a few seconds.

And then Kimberlite clapped her hands, her lips lifting into an amused smile.  
"Oh! That's very interesting." She tilted her head. "I only ask because I only know one or two quartzes back on Homeworld…this is my first time among the military ranks in a casual setting…"

"Military ranks?" Amethyst bit back another chuckle and Steven felt relief wash over him. "Heh, at _ease_ , Kim… _at ease_ …"

* * *

 _More to come very, very soon!  
_

 _Thank you all for all of your lovely comments! So, so sorry about the delay. This week has been slightly rough but from now on, updates will be weekly, either on Sunday or Monday. :D_


	12. Chapter 12

**Progressive  
**

That had been harder than she had originally thought it would be.  
In fact, it had taken a lot more strength than she could have ever anticipated not to sprint back down through the sand, grab her by the hand and insist that she follow her to work for the day.

Sadie leaned forward, folding her arms and resting her chin upon perfectly peaked point where her wrists crossed over. A small sigh escaped her lips as her pretty hazel eyes flicked from empty table to empty table.  
This was absolutely typical of early morning shifts in early spring, almost to the point that Sadie wondered why exactly they even bothered opening before nine on weekdays.

It wasn't exactly the most profitable of business decisions.  
Then again, who was she to debate the virtue of early starting hours with a manager who still used a VHS tape to train new employees.

Her hand patted the little tell-tale lump in her pocket.  
She had unconsciously scooped up her little gifted diamond into her hands before she had left the house. Having established that keeping it would not only preserve Kimberlite's peace of mind but also that it officially made her the most highly-tipped employee to ever have worked in Beach City.

Maybe she was the most highly-tipped employee on the whole Eastern Sea Board.

 _Kimberlite._

As much as she tried to focus on cleaning the countertop, she couldn't think of anything but the gawky, grey-skinned gem that she had left on the beach.

As they hid under the rock, completely uncertain as to whether they were safe from that gem-beast-bird thing, she had felt a great sense of comfort squatting down next to her.

Even though Kimberlite was in the apparent grip of terror, she was whispering apologies all the while.

"I-I'm so sorry…I'm sorry, Sadie…"

"Kim, it's _ok_ ," she managed to say back, hesitantly placing her arm around the gem's back. Her shoulders were so broad that they were slightly harder to reach even when the two of them were crouched side by side. "You couldn't have had any idea that this was gonna happen." A loud crash from above turned the gem's body from quivering to rigid.

"I have th-this special trick I could do," she told Sadie. "Sometimes, I can make things disappear- like the coffee liquid- but I can't do it whenever I want! Never when it counts…I feel so useless…"

"Hey, you're brave for even wanting to fight back," the human assured her, feeling a little flutter in her chest when Kimberlite's big green eyes were suddenly on her, a faint smile on her thin lips.

"…and you're even braver for being able to provide such comfort to others even when faced with peril." The gem placed her arm around Sadie's back in return, shaking but deliberate in her motions. "I should try to be like you…"

The gem didn't really provide any body heat but at that moment in time, the human woman had never felt warmer from the inside out. No one had ever told her that they wanted to be like her before.  
It held her with such surprise that Sadie almost forgot about the winged beast above their heads. Suddenly sitting in damp sand with her arms around an alien seemed like a completely worthwhile way to pass the time.

Sadie didn't particularly care about the slightly stained, sandy patch on her pants as she leaned on the counter a little bit more. She stretched her arm out a little to let the little diamond catch a little more of the sparse, early morning sunlight.

Kimberlite's scent was still heavy in her nose.  
It was about as strange and unearthly as everything else about her, seemingly composed of something coppery and something grassy and something else entirely that Sadie could not even begin to put a name to.

Lars was saying something to her now but her co-worker's ramblings had never seemed less important.  
Her heart was sinking as she thought of her newest friend's face in the distance as she'd been departing from the beach.  
She'd stolen glances at Kimberlite's shrinking figure over her shoulder as she walked and each time she looked, the gem's expression became increasingly… fearful.

As strong a word as "fearful" was, it was the only term that Sadie could think of to describe the gem's wide eyes and arching brows.  
Sure, she was disappointed as Kimberlite was that their hang-out time had been cut short but she'd never seen a person react so negatively to a simple rain check.

Something in Kimberlite's eyes had been begging her to stay.  
Moreso than simply petitioning her out of petulance.  
There was fear there.

But that of course led her to ask just what Kim had been so afraid of.  
It couldn't have been Steven and Amethyst…could it?

Steven Universe didn't have an intimidating bone in his body and if anything, the boy only ever seemed to inspire comfort in everyone he met.  
Plus, Amethyst- loud and proud as she was- was possibly the friendliest of Steven's guardians and she certainly didn't do anything that Sadie could recall to frighten the other gem.

The thought beckoned Sadie to remember the initial unease of countenance Kimberlite had expressed when she'd originally mentioned Steven.  
"It was as soon as I mentioned that there were other gems here," she recalled, frowning slightly to herself.

The only logical conclusion was that she was afraid at the prospect of being left alone with other gems.  
 _Why, though?_

Sadie remembered the time she and her mom had taken a vacation to Empire City to celebrate her graduation from high school. It had only been a week and when it came to R and R, there was nothing like some unashamed, touristy fun- as far as the older and younger Ms Miller were both concerned.

Empire City, nonetheless, was an intimidating place when it came to both size and atmosphere. Between pulsing strobe lights and a cacophony of noise from sunrise to sunset, it was easy to feel a little overwhelmed. Empire citizens were also some of the brashest, bossiest individuals that they'd ever had the (dis)pleasure of meeting. For a fellow tourism-based economy, the serving staff in most places were decidedly of the unwelcoming types.  
Sadie and Barb had never felt so relieved to meet some Beach City locals in the hotel bar. Even just chatting to some of her mom's old co-workers made Sadie feel like less of an alien.

Why would someone be so frightened to meet people from their home?

Sadie's brow furrowed as she drew the diamond close to her chest to cup it in both hands.  
Perhaps she should have given a little more thought to the fact that Kimberlite had chosen to run away from her planet?

Lars was still talking.  
Something about a game? Or a song? Or maybe it was a movie?  
In truth, she had no idea what he was talking about but nothing that was currently coming out of his mouth seemed all that (a) urgent or (b) interesting.

What had originally seemed like a harmless bout of rebellious tomfoolery was now starting to seem a little more serious.  
Just what was Steven's mother's home world really like?

 _Steven_.

Sadie patted the outline of her phone in her pants as she was reminded of one simple though comforting fact.  
"She's with Steven," she told herself, relieved. "He'll keep an eye on her and if something happens, he'll let me know." She exhaled, slowly placing the diamond back into the top pocket of her polo shirt. "We'll meet up later and the gems will have helped Kim out and everything will be ok…stop worrying…"

"Earth to Sade! Come in, Sade! Are you even listening?!"

" _No,"_ thought Sadie, swallowing back a long sigh as she turned to face her slightly red-faced fellow doughnut-peddler. "Hm?"

"What the heck is wrong with you this morning? It's like your brain's on another planet or something."

"That's a pretty tempting fate," she muttered in response, feeling strangely irritated. Normally, if Lars had decided to talk to her at all, she'd only be too happy to lend him every drop of her attention but this morning, having to even look at him felt like a chore.

"What?" Lars asked, slightly incredulous at her flippancy. "What's gotten into you?"

"I've just got a lot on my mind right now," she said, trying to wave him off as she made her way over to the register.

"Oh…"  
Sadie was actually quite surprised to hear Lars sounding so concerned for once. "Uh…do you wanna talk about it? Or…?"

His offer dangled vaguely for a moment and his co-worker looked up from the cash-drawer, looking as genuinely surprised as he was.

"Uh…ok…" Sadie was a little amazed. Lars offering to help her with anything was a rare occurrence but she couldn't remember if he had _ever_ actually wanted to talk about _her_ worries or what was on _her_ mind. "Well, it's kinda to do with that woman who I brought in here yesterday…"

Before she could say anything else, the main door of the restaurant opened and Jenny Pizza strode in, flanked by Sour Cream's long-legged stroll.

And just like that, in the blink of an eye, Lars' concerned countenance dissolved to a kind of passive, pompous mask.  
"Oh, hey guys," he drawled, pushing his way to the main part of the counter- not excusing himself to Sadie or bothering to promise to talk about it afterwards. " 'Sup?"

" _Of course_ ," the young blonde woman thought, her shoulders slumping. _"I'm only important until someone better comes along."_ Her fingers drifted over the diamond in her polo shirt pocket. _"Or maybe he's the one who's not worth my time…"_

"Can I get you guys the usual?" she said aloud suddenly, not caring that she was cutting across Lars. "One strawberry jam, one chocolate glaze and one rainbow sprinkle and cream supreme and three coffees?"

"Just two coffees, the strawberry and the supreme, thanks Sadie," Jenny told her with a bemused smile. "Buck's out on official "campaign business" with his dad so he won't be around…"

"Did Kiki say anything to you about going to the beach ball with me?" Lars asked suddenly, practically elbowing Sadie out of the way as he sat up on to the counter. "I texted her last night."

"If customers aren't allowed to do it then neither are you," she hissed between gritted teeth as she went about prepping the doughnuts.

Jenny, to Sadie's delight, sounded as though she felt Lars was some kind of cockroach crawling around her feet. "Yeah, she mentioned it. To be honest, you should probably be asking _her_ about it, seeing as we're not the same person…but I don't think she's interested."

"She's going with someone else?"

"I don't think she's going with anyone," Sour Cream chimed in.

"Like, she's going alone? Like, by choice? _Why_?"  
For the second time that morning, Lars sounded a little taken aback.

"Hey, it's a new world, man," the DJ informed him, leaning back in the seat he'd taken, his usual laid-back drawl imbued with a kind of sagely air. "Guys go with girls… and guys can go with guys… and girls can go with girls… and I guess anyone can go with no one if they want…it's a staple of our times…" He finished his proclamation with an affirmative nod.

"Have you asked anyone yet, Sadie?" Jenny asked kindly, helping her out with the tray as she placed it on the counter top.

Sadie was about to reply that she hadn't…but then she thought about it for a moment and replied: "No but I've got someone in mind…"

Lars scoffed a little, leaning back on the counter-top.  
"Is it someone we all know? How do you know he doesn't have other plans?"

"Not really," she said coolly. "And I don't know…I'll ask her later…"

Sadie had to admire the manner in which Sour Cream and Jenny managed to withhold a torrent of laughter when Lars almost fell right off the counter top.

"Her?!"

* * *

 _The next update should be fairly quick.  
I just wanted to alter one or two things about the next segment- I figured Kimberlite's first meeting with the entire Crystal cohort should be well attended to. _

_Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed!_

 _Thank you Mr/Ms/The Honourable Crowley for pointing out that typo in the last chapter! Sorry, I must have missed it during my proofreading!_

 _Also, this may be quite ambitious but due to me not wanting to saturate the story with my own OCs, I was wondering if anyone would like their gemsona to make a little cameo in an upcoming chapter centered on Kimberlite's Jasper and Pearl and what they're currently up to back on Homeworld.  
Of course I'd credit you wholeheartedly and if you'd rather nominate a friend's gemsona, that's also peachy with me too. :) I can base the cameo on whatever role or occupation the gemsona has on Homeworld but it would effectively involve them being very friendly with either Jasper or Pearl. _

_Either way, if you're interested, please drop me a line via PM or via review. ;)  
_

 _(By the way, I actually don't hate Lars, believe it or not! (^_^') )_


	13. Chapter 13

_Very late update because I was at a convention last week and then an unfortunate incident involving my laptop put me out of action and unable to reply to PMs or reviews!  
I'm so sorry everyone! *bows* _

_As always, thank you for all your kind reviews and responses. The OC –featuring chapter is going to be chapter 15, in case you're wondering. I'll be sending everyone who wanted an OC featured in the chapter, just to clarify one or two things._

* * *

 **Whispered**

"So…do _I_ know her?" Jenny asked, leaning forward slightly, eyes glinting with a barely concealed excitement. "Like does she go to Beach City High or Beach City U?"

"No," Sadie whispered back, pretending to just be going through the bill. It was still a little thrilling to be talking to the most popular girl in Beach City; a girl who'd previously only ever called her _doughnut girl_. "She's from out of town. _Way_ out of town." She bit back a small, bashful chuckle. "I haven't known her very long but I figure she might want to do something local with someone local? Is that stupid?"

"No! No, it's great," Jenny insisted, having to actively put effort into keeping her voice down. "So what's she like? Real cute? Smart? I bet she's a total sweetheart…"

Sadie shrugged, her smile seeming to be beyond her own control. "Well, she's a pretty awesome dancer…"

Across the counter, Sour Cream's headphones were neatly perched on his shoulders, effectively drowning out his friend's quiet conversation as he mulled over the best selections for the weekend's upcoming sets. Valentine's was always a hard occasion to play for because the crowd demanded he stay unique and relevant while still cranking out enough slow, smoochy, cheesey dance tunes to mark the date as it were.

In short, SC didn't hear a thing that Jenny and Sadie were saying nor was he trying to.

Lars, on the other hand, was covertly watching and straining to listen.  
Eyes narrowed.

 **Home Truths**

Garnet and Pearl had both given very specific orders regarding what they were not allowed to speak about with the kimberlite, should she be found.  
(In hindsight, Steven found it a little strange that Garnet had found it necessary to remind them of this, _just_ before they split from the group to pursue the gem-beasts headed towards the city. In fact…maybe it was a little strange that he and Amethyst had received these _very_ specific instructions at all.)

"I've never walked this far without my gem protector…"

"Gem protector? That sounds like something a nerd would wear. So you're not here on like...official business?"

"Oh no, just tourism. My Diamond didn't sanction this visit in the slightest."

"Woah...nerd with a taste for danger..."

As their de facto leader had made them repeat, they were not permitted to mention the cluster, the drill and to generally avoid referencing that they were a group of Homeworld war criminals.

Everything aside from that, as far as the purple-tinged quartz was concerned, was fair game.

"So do you know what _this_ is?"

Amethyst picked up a lone seashell left strewn by the side of the path, lifting it up and holding it under Kimberlite's hooked nose.

"No idea," the gem breathed, gingerly accepting the conch from Amethyst with mesmerised eyes. "What do you call it?"

"Oh, it's just a shell," Steven began. "It comes from…"

"It's the egg of a dangerous Earth creature called a Cookie Cat!" Amethyst chimed in suddenly. "That one looks as if it's already hatched but the poisonous membrane on the inside is probably still intact! If you touch it, it'll probably turn you inside out!"

"Gah!" Kimberlite squeaked, dropping the shell and darting away from it.

" _Amethyst_!" Steven chided, shaking his head but unable to conceal a smile. "Don't listen to anything she says, Kimberlite. Shells aren't poisonous…well, none around here are."

"Awwh, I'm just messing with you, home-girl," Amethyst laughed, scooping up another shell from the path and handing it back to the taller gem. "You're almost as funny as P-Dot."

"Uh…thank you?" Kimberlite said, a little uncertain as she delicately examined the shell. "So, this…Cookie Cat? Is _that_ real? Will we encounter any around here?" She looked around at the passing trees as if waiting for some kind of oncoming attack.

"Nah!" Steven assured her. "Cookie Cats aren't a kind of animal. They're desserts…ice cream…something you can eat…"

"Oh snap," Amethyst interjected, nudging Kimberlite in the side. "You probably haven't tried eating yet, have you?"

"Eating? No, but I've tried ingesting coffee!" she replied proudly. "It was an enlightening experience."

"Well, that's an ok start but we need to get some fries into you…and a taco…and maybe waffles…"

"That all sounds very exciting but… I've never eaten before. I don't have the necessary experience, I fear."

"Hey, I'm practically an expert at eating- ask anyone. With my training, you'll get there."

"You'd really be willing to teach me?"

"If I've got the time," Amethyst winked up at her, briefly revealing her normally hooded eyes as she tossed her hair proudly. "Who knows, we might work our way up to the wonders of pork chops…"

"My stars!"

Steven was happy to see the two of them palling around so much.  
His instincts about the grey gem hadn't been proved wrong yet; Kimberlite was decidedly harmless and after some initial, (pun aside), rockiness regarding Amethyst's size, she was happy to accept the Earthgrown gem as her tour guide.

Often taking her advice quite seriously.

"And do you, uh…?" Kimberlite hesitated, looking a little bashful. "Do you think the ability to eat these "pork chops" effectively might impress a human? Uh…er…. _any_ humans who happen to be watching, I mean?"

"Kim, Kim, Kim," Amethyst sighed, slinging her arm around the back of the grey gem's waist, (unable to quite reach her shoulders). "Eating's basically one of the greatest talents humans have and I know from experience that they happen to find eating your weight in pork chops _extremely_ attractive."

Steven bit back a small peal of laughter that had been building up in his lower throat, feeling a little like he should intervene but deciding against it when he saw Kimberlite awkwardly stoop to place her arm around Amethyst's shoulders.  
The purple gem cocked an eyebrow at the closeness but didn't do anything to push her away.

The gesture was forcing her to walk bow-legged but she didn't seem to care.  
The physical contact appeared more important to the Homeworld gem than walking normally.

It wasn't long before Homeworld became a topic of conversation with Kimberlite casually remarking:

"This is the closest I've ever been to a quartz type gem. Your hair is so soft."

"Thanks, I regularly soak it in junk water. So do you come from a part of Homeworld where there are like, not a lot of quartz or something?"

"Oh, I wouldn't know, I'm afraid. I live in an underground section of Blue Diamond's temple so I don't see many other gems aside from my personal staff. I wouldn't be allowed to come near them anyway. On Homeworld, touching is considered…inconvenient."

"Huh, personal space is still a thing for the Home-slices? Go figure. And, woah, you live _underground_? Doesn't that get like…dark or something?"

"No, not at all. We have compressed sulphur diodes on the walls. Just like the ones all over the main arenas. When is the last time you were on Homeworld, Amethyst?" Kimberlite asked, a little timidly. "Is it not fresh in your memory?"

Amethyst shrugged. "I was never on Homeworld. Made here. Raised here. Always been here." She jabbed a thumb over her shoulder. "Like Steven."

Kimberlite looked from the small quartz to the smaller quartz with incredulity.  
"What? Neither of you have been to our Homeworld? Ever? But it's our… _home_ …world…"  
Her speech was about as staggered as her gait.

" _Your_ home-world," the purple gem corrected her, waving a finger in Kimberlite's face. "Our home is Earth."

"Gems can live on Earth…" Kimberlite murmured quietly, as if the thought had only just occurred to her and she was still trying to process the new information. "It's not a colony but you can live here…" She smiled a little. "You know, it's so funny. I didn't expect to meet other gems here. Gem life on Earth was supposed to have ended centuries ago and while I've heard the odd, urban rumours about all the "demon gems" of course." She paused, giggling slightly at the supposed absurdity of the thought. "But you've both been a nice surprise…"

"…what do you mean by "demon gems?" Steven asked slowly, a cold wave of unease slowly washing over him.

Before Kimberlite could reply, however, a plane flying overheard caught her attention and caused her to scarper away into the nearby shrubbery in panic.

"Another beast!?"

Steven had no idea how the rather tall gem had bundled herself into such a small bush and had it not been for the look of terror on her face, he might have found it a little funny.

"No, it's just a plane. Like a spaceship but not as cool," he assured her, helping Amethyst to pull her out of the thoroughly assaulted foliage. "Hey, it's ok…"

"I do apologise," she blubbered, plucking leaves from her hair, her eyes on the sky. "I've just been r-rather prone to misfortunes as of l-late…I probably should not have left my gem protector at my Sadie's house…"

"Heh...nerd," Amethyst muttered, laughing a little as the painfully awkward gem scrambled to her feet.

Kimberlite was too enchanted with the vapour trails in the sky to pass a comment on this remark- thankfully, Steven couldn't help but think.  
Something had caught his attention when Kimberlite last spoke.

"Did she just call Sadie… "my Sadie"?" Steven asked Amethyst in a lowered voice, unable to stop a smile from coming across his face.

The gem shrugged. "Well, yeah. You musta noticed by now gems say it to people that they like. Humans never really seemed to come out with it so after a couple of decades I figured it was like a gem-only thing. Like a…what's the thing Pearl says? _Term of endearment?_ " Amethyst hesitated a little, taking a long sideways glance at the young human before saying. "Rose used to say it a lot. _My_ Garnet… _my_ Pearl… _my_ Amethyst…" Her voice almost trailed off completely before renewing with a grin. "Heh and then there's Ruby and Sapphire… _my_ laughy Sapphy…didn't know Rubes could be such a sap sometimes. And P's pretty bad for it too. And then there's _you_ …"

"Me?!" Steven raised a confused eyebrow, tearing his eyes from Kimberlite's graceless ambling to give Amethyst an accusative look. "When do I say it?"

The gem's playful grin became an undeniable smirk as she did her best imitation of his voice. "You stay away from _my_ Connie! Don't say that about _my_ Connie! I wonder if _my_ Connie will like this?"

"Ok, ok," he insisted, chuckling bashfully as he batted Amethyst's arm. "You've had your moments too…"

The purple gem stopped in her tracks, looking genuinely stunned and a little expectant. "Oh?"

Now it was Steven's turn to offer his best impression of Amethyst: "Ahem….MI TORTA!"

She grimaced, sticking her tongue out at him and giving him a soft punch. "Whatever, little bro. Heh, if Kim's talking that way about doughnut-girl it must mean that she kinda _likes_ her."

"Yeah, maybe," Steven said, his eyes travelling to watch Kimberlite ambling up the trail ahead of them, his thoughts a little distant.  
He felt as though he probably actually ask the new-to-Earth gem what exactly she needed help with. Sadie had said that it had something to do with her ship so he had figured that it was maybe something that Peridot could help with.  
He had been mulling it over for quite a while- unsure if he was afraid of the answer he might get even if he wasn't sure what that answer might be- but suddenly, his thoughts were preoccupied with something else.

By the time they reached the barn, Pearl, Garnet and Peridot, (the green gem probably unknowingly acting as more of a hindrance than a help), seemed to have concealed most of the evidence of their drill construction.  
The cows were gone too, Steven noted.

That was probably for the better.

Pearl was the first sentient being to come into view, her normally fluid gait becoming notably slower as she surveyed the trio approaching her.

"Well," she began, letting out a small breath. "You all certainly took your time." Her round blue eyes darted from the two smaller individuals to the tallest of the trio. She took her time when speaking, her voice as melodic and careful as always but a lot slower. "So...you must be Kimberlite..."

"I am!" she responded cheerily, looking oddly excited to make Pearl's acquaintance, even going as far as to take her hand, wrapping the white gem's long, slender fingers with her own. "How are you?"

Steven let out a long breath that he'd been holding in for a very long time as warm relief coursed through him. He'd been dreading this since the barn had actually come into view, considering the rough patch that another certain Homeworld-biased gem had gone through with his dear guardian.  
He really wasn't in the mood to do another Olympics, (robo or otherwise).  
So when Kimberlite clutched Pearl's hand to her chest, smiling sweetly, Steven could feel nothing but a comfy warmth ripple through his skin.

Though this was suddenly doused with a spray of cold reality when Kimberlite turned around, still holding Pearl's hand and asked with toddler-grade innocence:

"Who does she belong to? She's lovely." She turned back to a very flushed Pearl, happily adding: "You remind me of my Pearl. She has a nice, soft voice too."

Out of the corner of his eye, Steven could see Amethyst's jaw had come unhinged in shock and quick as a flash , he stumbled forward.

"Remember how I said that we do things differently here on Earth!?" he almost bellowed, his grin forced and his voice breathless. "How gems can be different?! Well...well..."

"That's alright, Steven," Pearl said, a little stiffly, slowly wrapping her fingers around Kimberlite's in return and pushing her hand downwards, out of her tenure. "You don't have to apologise for anyone else's behaviour." She looked at Kimberlite, releasing her hand and folding her own. "I don't belong to to anyone."

Pearl seemed a lot less jittery than the time Peridot had asked about who owned her.  
Maybe she had some time to prep a good answer?

During the robo-lympics, between making popcorn and setting up a deck-chair, Garnet had mentioned something fleeting about Pearl not having to defend herself like that for a few thousand years or so.  
"Homeworld was good at breeding biases. I'm guessing they still are, judging by our little green friend's two cents," she had said. "Pearl was always good at holding her own...though back then, she had Rose..."

Steven, with this in mind, held his breath and silently wished he had something else to hold on to besides the hem of his t-shirt.

"You...don't belong to anyone?" Kimberlite echoed, looking confused for a moment and then suddenly very sympathetic. "Did your owner leave you here?"

She reached out for Pearl's hand again but the white gem immediately moved her hands behind her back.

"I haven't had an owner in a very long time," Pearl said, a little more sharply than before. "And I don't think I really need one either."

Kimberlite opened her mouth as if she was going to say something with a heavy tone of pity but she seemed to rethink it a little, instead simply saying: "Oh..." Her head dipped to one side for a second, her expression unreadable before a slow smile spread across her face. " _Oh_. You're like Sadie and the Big Doughnut. Things are so different here on Earth."

"...yes," Pearl replied, looking a little confused at the statement before smiling faintly. "Yes, they are."

Kimberlite's eyebrows knitted suddenly. "You know, you look an awful lot like my Pearl...I think..."

The swordswoman inhaled through her nose, a little withered. "Gems of a certain type tend to look alike, yes."

"No, it's more than that," Kimberlite insisted, squinting a little behind her unruly grey fringe. "While you do look a little like my Pearl...I feel like I've met you before..."

Pearl's jaw slender jaw pulled taut. "I don't think so. I haven't been off-planet in a while."

A loud squeak sounded out from behind an upturned tractor, causing all four of them to jump slightly.

"The heck was that?" Amethyst demanded to know, looking around. "Does the barn have those giant rats again?"

"More beasts?" Kimberlite whimpered, looking to Steven expectantly. "Should you summon a weapon?"

Pearl rolled her eyes. "No. Nothing of the sort. Peridot! I thought we talked about this. Are you coming out here or not?"

After a few moments of shuffling, the engineer finally scampered out from behind the machinery, her eyes big as she approached them.

The human boy pondered her response for a moment, remembering how panicked she had been to learn that Kimberlite had arrived here.  
They _still_ didn't have proof that she was after Peridot.

"Uh...Kimberlite...this is Peridot," Steven said, deciding that an ice-breaker seemed vital. "She's a new addition to the gems here on Earth. Peridot, this is Kimberlite. She came here _all alone_."

Peridot walked rather robotically over to stand beside Pearl, staring up at Kimberlite with her hands in clenched fists. "Peridot, facet 2f5l, cut 5xg."

Kimberlite tilted her head. "...Kimberlite, facet 0a0a, cut 0aa." She smiled faintly. "I didn't actually come here all alone. As a matter of fact, I brought a Peridot with me too. Era 2, just like you. Only she was taller...and oh, you work for Yellow Diamond? That's interesting. I'm sure you and her would have a lot to talk about. She's a little jumpy though..."

"We've heard," Garnet's low, placating drawl sounded out as the elegant fusion sauntered over. "She's not going to make _any_ friends around here by shooting at the locals, even if she does thing that she's helping you out. But the question of the hour is, how can _we_ help you out, Kimberlite?"

"This is Garnet," Steven proclaimed, smiling up at Kimberlite.  
His smile slipped at the sudden look of fear in her big green eyes.

Kimberlite was staring at Garnet intently, a slow tremor running from the top of her head , right down her torso all the way to her knees.  
Her stare travelled from Garnet's left palm to her right palm to her torso, fixating there.

"...hello," she said finally, her voice very quiet.

"Is something the matter?" Garnet asked, possibly preparing for a Peridot-esque outburst about fusions. Their leader seemed to have steeled herself to this kind of behaviour, similar to Pearl.

There was something different about Kimberlite though, Steven thought, worriedly.  
She wasn't disgusted or annoyed...she looked afraid.

"I...I...just noticed...that, well, I thought you all might have worked for Yellow Diamond but...you all seem to have an affinity for that five-pointed shape..." Her voice dropped to a hush, her pupils turning to pinpricks and Steven's stomach dropped. "I've only ever seen that symbol once before...I...it belonged to..."

"Alright, Kimberlite. Listen to me," Garnet began.

The grey gem stumbled backwards, falling on to her backside and scrabbling at the dirt. "Y-You...you're all..."

"It's ok, Kim," Steven tried to say calmly. "You don't have to..."

But Kimberlite's eyes were already on the large, yellow star on Steven's t-shirt.

"You're... all war criminals..." She lifted a hand in apparent self-defence. "You all work for... _her_. Does that mean she's here?"

The words hit Steven like a blow to the face but swallowing back the sour feeling, he tried to reach out to take her outstretched hand.  
"Hey...it's ok...no one is going to hurt you."

"Don't come any closer to me!"  
Kimberlite waved her hand violently, a bright light suddenly tearing through the ground between she and Steven. The boy tumbled backwards, groaning on the ground  
A deep black absess opened up in the ground, only inches away from the tip of Steven's flip-flop.

"That's a warp portal!" Peridot exclaimed doubling back. "Did _she_ make that?!

Kimberlite looked just as a horrified as the rest of the gems but when Pearl took a step towards Steven, another wave of her arm caused a second giant hole to appear.

"I told you not to come any closer to me!" she shrieked, her eyes brimming with tears.

"I don't need to get close to you to make you regret that, home-girl," warned Amethyst, reaching to her gem to pull forth her whip.

The sight of a weapon was enough to tear a scream from Kimberlite's throat and at least six more portals suddenly littered the ground around them, leaving them with only slivers of clean, solid Earth to stand on.

Pearl took a balletic leap across one of the divides and managed to scoop Steven into her arms, Peridot automatically latching on to one of her slim legs as an anchor.

"Cut that out!" Amethyst shouted, drawing back her whip, only to have her arm grabbed by Garnet.

"No...she can't help it...let me handle this..." Steven heard the fusion say, right before a long tremor in the ground sent Pearl toppling backwards and temporarily blinding him.

When his vision finally returned and he was able to untangle him, groaning and grunting, from Pearl and Peridot's hold, he was greeted by the sight of a stocky, red gem standing over him.

"Need a hand?"

"Ruby? What...are you doing here?"

Over her shoulder, she could see Kimberlite, trapped to the spot by a husk of ice around her gangly legs. She was breathing heavily now, a certain blue gem standing over her.

"Kimberlite. _Stop_. The last time we spoke, I warned you about letting your emotions get the better of you."

The grey gem's head jerked up. "Sapphire..." she breathed. "What are you doing here?"

"It's been a few years, alright," Sapphire replied with the same gentle smile that she often addressed him with.

A tear ran shivering down Kimberlite's cheek. "...they told me that you were _broken_."

* * *

 _Again, I am so, so sorry about the delay! I don't deserve your patience.  
Any of it. _

_Things will be back to normal for now on._

 _For all interested parties, Kimberlite's portal summoning abilities also stem from real life Kimberlite's commonly being found in absesses in the ground._

 _Thanks again, everyone!_


	14. Chapter 14

_Hello again!  
Chapter 14! _

_Sorry about the delay folks. I had a little bit of a personal heart-break that needed some self-care for a while, (I'm only human), but I'm back in business now.  
Additionally, I also had to watch the most recent Steven-bomb in order to take into account new information regarding the gem war. With this in mind, this fic takes place in a universe in which Pink Diamond's shattering was a result of the rebellion as opposed to as a catalyst for it. _

_One more thing! There's a little bit of sexuality in the last section of this chapter.  
Nothing vulgar, nothing explicit, nothing extreme and certainly not enough to merit an "M" rating, (I have checked), but be warned that there's going to be some naughtiness between two gems of two different types, (SCANDAL!). _

_Enjoy!_

 _(A friend of mine made the observation that Kimberlite's dialogue seems a little weird at times and was wondering about her accent and such. I sort of imagine Kim's voice to be akin to Katherine Beaumont's voice. She was the original voice actress for Alice (from Wonderland) and Wendy (Peter Pan) in the Disney films. Sort of British and dainty.)_

* * *

 **Hear no Evil (Outside the Barn, Earth, The Present Day)**

"Sapphire? Y-You're Sapphire..."

A small laugh, but not a cruel one.

"Yes, Kimberlite. For the eleventh time, it's me."

"I know. I'm sorry. It's just…so strange."  
A small sniffe that could have been a reticent sob. "They all said you were broken...after the attack on the Cloud Arena..."

"Mmm, they would. Do you remember that day? It was over a thousand years ago."

"Really? It doesn't feel like that long ago. It's strange."

"Well, sometimes, I've found that emotion can do things to our perception of time." The former aristocrat's voice hung in the air for a moment, swelling and then fading like a line of perfectly written melody. "That's why I try to experience emotion with as great care as I can."

"You said that to me the very first time we met. I thought that would be the last time I'd ever see you…but then I saw you that day at the Cloud Arena…" A sigh. "It was supposed to be the first time I'd ever see Earth."

Kimberlite seemed to have calmed down quite a bit, now fully thawed out and squatting down next to Sapphire in the shade of a large tree.  
Through the gauze of her fringe, the blue gem could distantly see the outline of the other gems, congregated near the barn door.

Thankfully Ruby had managed to convince the others to give them some space and with her lover keeping the rest of their odds-and-ends family at bay, she was free to speak frankly with the transfusion gem.

"Do you remember that day?" Kimberlite asked her, half-hesitantly. Her voice was slowly returning to normality; she had done quite a bit of blubbering, enough to turn the loudest of military officer's voice completely raw, so Sapphire had been expecting quite a bit of silence.

Normality of any kind appeared to be drawing her back to a state of calm.

"Vividly," she told the taller gem, smoothing her gown out upon the grass, trying to get used to her newly reduced height. "Do you mind if I ask you to try and remember something for me?"

"Oh...not at all...please, ask away..." She sniffed, wiping her eyes with her forearm. "But I have to be honest- I was only watching via communication hub and they turned off my live feed after the Pearl started to attack the guards..." She looked up a little, squinting into the distance. "That's her, isn't it?" Her voice dropped slightly, as though she was afraid that Pearl might overhear them. "The...the renegade?"

"Yes," Sapphire told her simply and shortly. "But, she's not going to hurt you, I promise. She's no more threat to you than I am."

"...I see. Uh...I'm sorry, there was something you wanted to ask me?"

Sapphire clasped her gloved hands together in her lap, confronted with the opportunity to find out something that she'd wanted to know for quite a long time and feeling increasingly restless. The emotion didn't sit well on her small frame, constructed to be in a constant state of grace and serenity.

"What precisely did Blue Diamond tell you had happened to Ruby and I? Because I'm guessing that it was Blue Diamond herself who debriefed you. Am I correct?"

Kimberlite let out a long, hoarse, (though unnecessary) breath. "Yes...she did. I had to wait until she returned to Homeworld before they'd let me talk to her..." She settled down on to her backside, dipping her head low. "...I remember being so worried about her."

Her voice was tinged with a kind of fearful shame, prompting Sapphire to say: "And that's alright. Of course you felt worried about her..." The words burned like venom in the blue gem's mouth but continued anyway. "She was... _is_ your Diamond. You are as conditioned to love and fear her, just as I once was and just like all gems are. Now, please continue. What did Blue Diamond tell you about Ruby and I?"

"She told me that during the attack, one of your bodyguards went rogue and forcibly fused with you."

Sapphire's knuckles started to ache, her two hands clenching into fists beneath the materialised silk of her gloves. Controlling her voice was becoming a little more difficult. "And?"

"Then she said that the Ruby took you hostage and escaped with you down to the Earth's surface. She said that our intelligence agents seemed to think that the Ruby was secretly working for the Crystal Gems...and that at some point during the search for you...they found your pieces..." Kimberlite's body seemed to fold up like a telescope. "They all said that you'd been murdered."

The taller gem didn't see it but the grass at the bare edges of Sapphire's dress began to turn a hoary grey, frost spreading out across the spiky green trimmings.  
By the time Kimberlite lifted her head, however, the grass had been restored to normality.  
Curved only by the hand of a warm spring breeze.

"Hm. That _does_ sound like something the authority would cook up."

Suddenly Kimberlite face was only centimetere's from hers. "But you're not murdered. Not at all. You're... _here_. You're _whole_. You're on Earth...with the Ruby... _together_..."

"Yes. Yes, that is the case and has been the case for the last few centuries."

The grey gem's eyes were on the skies as though she was somehow searching for a way to stare accusingly up at Homeworld itself. "Why though? W-Why would they lie? Why would _she_ lie? If you were ok...then why didn't they just tell us that? We...w-we were all so sad about...all so scared..."

Sapphire let out a soft, careful but very deliberate breath. "Not everything that the Diamonds release to the public is intended to be truthful or comforting."

"Blue Diamond only wants to protect us," Kimberlite retorted, a little too quickly. She wasn't aggressive but the rebuttal was fast, Sapphire noticed; she was too sure, too conditioned.

The wind slowly sweeping in the trees above them, causing the leaves to rustle in a soft, tuneless interlude. A symphony of crackles and creaking from the canopy afforded the Seer gem a moment to gather her thoughts.  
Whe she turned her head to regard the much taller gem at her side, Kimberlite's verdant, worried stare was desperately seeking Sapphire's eye.  
Seeking approval.  
Typical of a court gem.

"I used to think the same thing," she said eventually, a small sigh escaping her lips. "And I'm not going to try to change your mind because there's only a very small possibility that I alone would even be able to but I meant what I said when we first met, Kimberlite; you're a clever gem- you should think for yourself once in a while rather than just taking what you've been taught for granted."

The grey gem's eyes slowly wandered back over to the barn and the figures that were idling there, her lips mumbling something incoherent. The first recognisable thing that Sapphire could manage to make out was:  
"Is she _here_?"

"She?" Sapphie echoed gently, tilting her head to better examine Kimberlite's contorting face. "Who is _she_? You-...oh." The blue gem's lips formed a perfect "o."

She could suddenly remember having seen this part.

Ever since she and Ruby had shared the vision of this moment, she had been dreading having to regress herself back to the Homeworld mindset but in order to avoid another trying outburst from Kimberlite, she decided that it was a necessary stepback.

In Kimberlite's mind, she was stranded amongst dangerous war criminals who were prepared to shatter her without a second thought.  
Keeping that in her thoughts, Sapphire took a deep breath and said:

"You mean Rose, don't you?"

Kimberlite nodded shortly, burying her head in her arms as though she was trying to hide in there. "She's here, isn't she?"

"Rose Quartz is not here with us right now. Not entirely."

"Was she shattered?"  
Sapphire tried to ignore the small note of hopefulness in Kimberlite's voice; she didn't know any better.

"No. She survived...but she eventually gave up her physical form to give birth to her son."

"Her...son? _Birth_?" Kimberlite looked up, only her long, hooked nose visible through her long, slightly matted hair. "Like an organic creature? Can gems _do_ that? Gems can... _mate?!_ "

Knowing that the sheltered, (not so) little thing actually knew a thing or two about organic reproduction. Sapphire had only seen one future where she'd had to explain at least some elements of the birds and bees to Kimberlite and it was one that she desperately wanted to avoid.

"Rose had her son with a human," she informed her, bringing an abrupt end to Kimberlite's budding existential crisis. "Now he bears her gem along with the humanity he inherited from his father."

"So...Rose turned into a hybrid?"  
Her knuckles flushed a milkier grey and her head craned forwarda little more, her body still trembling.

"Steven is not Rose. He's his own person. I know this is probably difficult for you to understand but please try to comprehend that if nothing else." Sapphire placed a hand on Kimberlite's knee. "I know that you're afraid but do consider, in the time Steven took to take you from the beach to here, did he do anything to harm you? Or to make your uncomfortable? Even slightly?"

"...no. Quite the opposite, actually."

"See? Steven means no harm to you either. There's no need to be so scared." Beneath the curtain of her long fringe, Sapphire's brow lifted. "I'm aware that me saying that is not going to eradicate those feelings but if we're going to help you here on Earth, you're going to have to promise me that you're not going to have any more outbursts like that. If I am to act in your best interest, I need to first act in the best interest of my friends. Do you understand?"

Kimberlite nodded, sniffling and sighing but slowly shaking the tremors from her limbs. "Ok. I understand."

Though the future was what Sapphire had always specialised in by trade and by nature, she couldn't help but give in to a vision of the past, remembering the first time she'd ever met Kimberlite.  
The temple had been dark that day, dark and empty like a hollowed out pit.

* * *

 **See No Evil (Blue Diamond's Pavillion, Homeworld, Over Six Thousand Years BCE)**

The temple had been dark that day, dark and empty like a hollowed out pit.  
In fact, she was almost taken aback by how loud her usually soundless footsteps were and how the folds of her dress- normally a soft rustle at most- sounded like a powerful rush of water.

She needed some time away from the raucous court crowds.  
True, this particular Congregation was going to be a slightly more sombre occassion, for obvious reasons, but that didn't stop the usual crowds from circling.

It wasn't the most stressful of situations, particularly in comparison to what some of their kind were currently being forced to endure in the colonies, but Sapphire was still starting to feel like she'd just narrowly escaped some kind of horrific battle.

She had never been a particularly social gem despite her purpose in diplomacy.  
Although she was more than willing to engage a gem of any make or model in conversation or debate- one gem at a time was her limit.  
Sapphire covertly despised being surrounded, especially by aristocratic gems.  
She knew as well as any other cut or facet that her own kind could be as loud and brash as the military classes given the opportunity.

It was tiresome to have to listen to a kindergarten's worth of Tanzanites and Emeralds have bragging competition after bragging competition about who was the most highly regarded in their Diamond's eyes, who owned the finest personal staff, who's phyiscal form was the most physically attractive in terms of the current fashion...

It was a painful ordeal, all in all.

She was fortunate this time.  
Normally on some of her more perilous excusions, she was afforded the company of two or more personal bodyguards- truly a mixed "blessing" at the best of times.

However, here on Homeworld, safe within one of the main city pavillions, Sapphire was free to walk alone and unattended.  
Intending to make the most of this luxury- not to mention her free reign of access to Blue Diamond's personal temple, Sapphire had taken the opportunity to slip inside the mighty doors of the colossal, cerulean building.

She mentally congratulated herself; had anyone spotted her shuffling out of the crowds, she might have been confronted with the terrifyingly awkward situation of having to find an excuse not to take another long walk with General Druzy Quartz or that terribly gossipy Celestine.  
Standing around the main atrium under the influence of Eclipse Congregation security was to risk being oggled by gangs of burly, guffawing military class gems on patrol.  
Not that she paid them much mind.  
She'd learned to greet their attentions with the same deaf ear she generally leant court gossip, finding the whole thing far more annoying than intimidating.

Sapphire sighed a little, tapping the keypad to close the doors and readjusting her gloves.  
"Hmph. I guess it does seem a little petty now that I think about it. Still, when you're allowed to be a recluse, one may as well make use of it..."

The distant sound of cloth dragging across tiles alerted her to the presence of another gem nearby. Clearly some other poor soul had seen fit to take refuge inside the great confines of the structure erected to honour their Diamond.

"Hello?" Sapphire called out experimentally, peering into the relative darkness behind her. She had no reason to feel any kind of fear. She was authorised to be there.  
The indigo curtains of shade that draped across the hall, elegant in ambience but offering an ominous kind of concealment .

"Hello?" she repeated, raising her voice slightly as she stepped backwards against the great door. "Is someone there?"

Sapphire couldn't help but feel a sudden sense of relief when a familiar silhouette stumbled into the light-orbs' dim glow.

It was one of the queer after-effects of her future vision, that she often ended up recognising gems that she had never met before. As the stranger in question slowly hobbled into view, Sapphire immediately recognised her as the grey-coloured gem that she had forseen meeting earlier that day.  
The details of their conversation were hazy in her memory but while the gem's identity was mostly forgotten to her, the gem herself wasn't threatening in the slightest.

"I beg your pardon," the other occupant of the temple whispered, her voice slightly shrill yet thick- as though she'd been blubbering. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"You didn't," Sapphire assured her, offering her a polite bow of the head to which the other gem returned. "I'm just passing through to take a break from the crowds. I'm sorry if I've intruded on..." She glanced the gem up and down, looking for clues as to what her occupation might be but finding nothing, she concluded with: "...whatever it is you're doing."

"Oh no, of course not! Of _course_ not!" she burbled, spluttering slightly, her eyes wide and excited. "I'm not really doing anything. I'm...I'm actually a little lost."

"Oh?" Sapphire calmly gestured over her shoulder. "Well, the main entrance is right here. It leads to the primary courtyard and everything should be pretty well sign-posted from there or alternatively you could just ask f-?"

"Ah, no, no," the strange gem told her quickly, shaking her head and bowing again. "That is to say, thank you for your help but..." She seemed to hesitate slightly. "I'm not permitted to leave my Diamond's temple."

At this point, Sapphire had a chance to properly study the gem's attire and was still yet to happen upon any clues to suggest what this gem's function was. Her fitted bodysuit suggested a working gem but her long chiton- proudly emblazoned with Blue Diamond's insignia- was that of an aristocrat's servant, if not someone higher up themselves.  
Then again, the gem's slightly unkempt appearance would not even slightly tolerated in her Diamond's presence.

Not to mention the fact that her actual gemstone was not recognisable in neither colour nor texture.

Beneath her long fringe, Sapphire's brow arched with slight concern but she smiled lightly. "Where exactly are you trying to get to?"

"Uh..."  
The stranger hesitated, looking a little nervous. "W-Well, to my room. It's here somewhere but I can't remember where." Her original anxiety turned to faint yet mounting distress. "I should never have walked out but I just wanted to see the rest of the main part but...I'm...I'm not even sure if I should be speaking to you!"

Sapphire lifted a gloved hand, taking a step closer to the other gem, hoping not to send her into further hysterics. "There's no need to panic. Let's take a walk around the temple. Perhaps if we move in the direction from which you came, you'll remember where you were before." Her smile never quavered as she looked up at the taller gem. "Forgive my forwardness when I've not formally introduced myself. I am Sapphire."

The gem bowed her head again, cracking a small smile of her own. "Nice to meet you. I am Kimberlite."

The blue gem's eye widened and her once neatly clasped hands tightened a little in their grip of each other, as though trying to offer herself some kind of relief or support. Though her face remained in an undeterred expression of serene civillity, Sapphire's mind was suddenly racing.

The gem who called herself Kimberlite turned to leave, seeming relieved with Sapphire's tacit politeness and behind her back, the aristocrat couldn't help but stare in mild shock.

A kimberlite?

The last time she had ever heard that name being mentioned was from the lips of a Black Tourmaline. Normally she didn't have much time for the tourmalines as they could be a rather aloof, snarky group at the best of times, but this particular medic was friendly. Sapphire didn't have many friends- mostly by her own choice- but as a rule of thumb, she kept a mental list of gems that could hold an amicable conversation.

 _The first time she had spoke to that particular tourmaline was at the fourth court meeting regarding the war. It was a mixed court session, affording gems from White, Yellow and Blue Diamond's courts to interact._

 _A distant, full-bodied cloud of vapour briefly nimbused the sun's harsh, unyielding glower and the mixed crowd who occupied the arena let out a collective sigh of relief._

 _"They need to fix that star-damned awning. That or issue the assignments and just let us get moving," the tall medic had grumbled, massaging the bridge of her bulge-tipped nose before folding her arms with a flourish. The bare ends of her long, embroidered sleeves had managed to catch the side of Sapphire's cheek._

 _The black tourmaline didn't apologise and while the colder side of Sapphire wanted to say that she wouldn't have cared either way, the kinder side of Sapphire was willing to wager that it was because she didn't notice._

 _It was an occupational hazard for smaller gems that she'd grown accustomed to._

 _Her subsequent jostling however, alerted the Tourmaline to her presence and created the perfect storm for a little bit of conversation.  
Better still, a little bit of conversation that Sapphire herself didn't have to instigate. _

_"I mean, I know we're in a war situation and all," she went on, this time directly addressing Sapphire but with a distinctly lowered voice. "But while the Authority has the right to request whatever they want from us, you'd think a little more organisation could have gone into this whole affair, right? And I'm not saying that our architects didn't know what they were doing when they built this place but surely a few extra roofing buttresses couldn't have gone astray."_

 _"Well," the aristocrat replied, shrugging beneath the fine cloth of her gown. "I don't believe this place was made with this kind of impromptu meeting in mind. It's all very sudden. I don't think they'd gather us all like this unless there was some kind of direct need to do so...this is a war; we're all expected to make sacrifices."_

 _The black tourmaline's arched brow caused her perfectly round gemstone, perched high upon her cheekbone, to lift and glare under the influence of the sun.  
She was typical White Diamond court stock: outspoken, loud, wordy but apparently clever. _

_"Oh galaxies," Tourmaline lamented with a chuckle. "You must think I'm one of those sorts now. Mind you, I don't complain about everything. It's just, I'm a colonist, you know? One of the furthest colonies in our star-maps too. There I am, trying to perform experimentation on some newly cut samples and suddenly my Pearl is on my arm, telling me I need to hurry to the nearest warp pad and then I'm running and racing to get out of the lab and as soon I arrive here after what, I'll tell you, was not the most pleasant of warp-journies at all, I'm corralled into this stifling arena and made to wait with no reliable information on hand as to what exactly I'm required here to do." She let out a long sigh. "Again, not to sound irritable...but I'm not used to waiting like this and it's not as though I don't have other things to do."_

 _Sapphire smiled, finding that it was really the best thing to do when one had no opinion to offer up about a topic. "My work has been very limited as of late, so I'm afraid I can't sympathise."_

 _"You're a diplomat, eh?" Tourmaline queried, looking her up and down._

 _"That's right."_

 _"I would have thought you lot would be rushed off your feet with work to do at this stage in the war."_

 _"Other diplomats have been but I'm under domestic charge so I don't get off planet much. This is my first time being called this far from Homeworld."_

 _"Lucky you," the Tourmaline commented with a snort of sardonic laughter. "To be honest, I'd rather not having to travel so much. I've too many experiments to complete as of late and if my manager wants me to finish by my deadlines, she'd better arrange for me to have more time in the lab. At this rate, I'm going to end up spending the Eclipse Congregation here on Earth."_

 _"I'm surprised they haven't suspended your work in favour of the war effort. Most of the medics in Blue Diamond's court have been repossessed to work on regeneration fluids and the likes..."_

 _The Tourmaline's voice became a reedy whisper, the tall gem sitting on the marble step behind her in order to further lower herself to Sapphire's face.  
At close proximity, the aristocrat could smell the sharpness of the metallic fluids that soaked the medic's skin, the warning, warping scent of lay beneath of what Sapphire could only imagine were the chemicals that she had to work with. _

_"But I am working towards the war effort." Tourmaline glanced around quickly, checking that none of the many eyes that stared boredly into the centre of the arena were focused on their now-covert conversation. "I've been working on supplementary mineral injections. You know, taking gemetic material and transferring it from one gem to another."_

 _Sapphire looked at her, nonplussed. "Why in the star systems would we need to do something like that? The kindergartens are struggling to produce perfect specimen as it is. I would have thought the last thing we'd need are mixed gemetics."_

 _Tourmaline patted the step beside herself, gesturing for Sapphire to sit at her side.  
She was a high-ranking medic. A pearl owner.  
This was permissable contact. _

_"I'm officially being told that the research is mainly for the sake of improving our kindergarten stock. Getting bigger, tougher quartzes, you know? Transfusing extra minerals rather than having to scrap the duds. But-" She paused, her ebony skin gleaming as she tilted her head upward a little. "Suppose that we could cook up a Gem that could safely store and contain the gemetic matter of another type of gem? Let's say a Diamond, for argument's sake. Then suppose something terrible befell one of our Diamonds, stars forbid. Well, with a transfusion gem, able to generate perfect recreations of lost fragments. I'm talking exact pieces, perfect gemetic matches. Suppose this hypothetical gem could store gemetic material from all of the Diamonds?"_

 _Sapphire stared at her, feeling compelled to pull away her fringe in order to better get a look at Tourmaline's expression, searching for any hint of a jest. "What are you saying?"_

 _"I'm saying that the Diamonds would have the perfect insurance that their reign would last forever." The medic's voice was a bare whisper and her smile was anything but joking. "The managers call it a kimberlite." She leaned backwards and stretched out, her flambuoyant sleeves once again taking liberties in terms of bodily space. "Or at least they would, were it a real thing."_

 _"It's not-?"_

 _Tourmaline shrugged, smirking. "My research is supposed to be going somewhere but the idea of a transfusion-specific gem? That's a little farfetched isn't it? All things considered. The resources required alone would...would..."_

 _Her voice trailed off, her eyes becoming distant for a moment, her attention seemingly stolen.  
A hush seemed to slowly trail over the crowd too, silence gradually setting in as Sapphire followed Tourmaline's gaze to the rather shaken-looking Carnelian who had just warped in.  
_

 _She had clearly just left some kind of violent confrontation, her russet skin marked with streaks of deep orange and vermillion and her brow glistening with a heat that most of the upperclass who were seated around her would never know._

 _The carnelian cleared her throat, coughing slightly and speaking in the most withered tone that Sapphire had ever heard come from a quartz. "Y-Your attention please...in wake of the most recent attack..."_

And now, here she was.  
The Kimberlite herself.  
Evidently more than the myth that she had once been made out to be.

Sapphire needed a moment to collect her composure, (that couldn't have been more than a few seconds but felt as though it was an eternity), before forcing herself to smile again, bowing her head and saying: "It's nice to meet you."

Kimberlite did not offer a Diamond salute nor did she bow her head but she did smile cheerily as she said: "You too."

Court etiquette clearly wasn't her forté and to be perfectly honest, Sapphire didn't really care. If anything, it was more than a little refreshing.  
It wasn't long before she'd fallen into step beside the taller gem, making easy conversation with her.

Her head seemed to jerk around, eyes scanning the room at a mile, a minute.

"Do any of these alcoves seem familiar to you?" Sapphire asked, gesturing to the shadowed inlets that were embedded into the walls around them.

Kimberlite shook her head, sighing a little. "No. I'm afraid not. I don't have a very good memory. My Jasper says that I have poor...er...spatial awareness." She looked down sideways at Sapphire, her thick, greyish eyebrows rising. "So what is that you do, Sapphire?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"What do you do for our Diamond? What's your occupation? I've never met a Sapphire before." She smiled, almost looking a little nervous. "I don't meet many new gems, face to face."

"Well, my actual title is as a diplomat," Sapphire explained. "But my primary occupation is as a Seer. I possess the gift of premonition and prophecy." She felt a dampened sensation not unlike embarassment, not wanting to seem condescending as she quickly added: "I can see visions of the future."

"Stars! That's wonderful," Kimberlite practically chirped, stopping in her tracks and bending at the waist to bend down to meet the blue-skinned gem's gaze. "Our Diamond must find you to be so useful! And you must get so many important assignments! On lots of different planets, I'd bet?"

"On occassion," the aristocrat replied, more than taken aback at the gangly gem's eagerness. "It can be a little trying, if I'm honest; I'm not particularly one for travel." She smiled faintly, trying to keep her tone as serene and neutral as possible as she asked. "So what is it that you do for our Diamond, Kimberlite? I must say, I've never met a Kimberlite before."

Though it wasn't as if she couldn't guess at the answer.

The diplomat was a little taken aback when her newfound companion only shrugged, a petulant frown tugging at the ends of her lips as she straightened up. "I was only formed a year ago. I don't really have a special talent like you..."

Sapphire shook her head. "Every gem is made with a talent, specific to her, that allows her to best serve the Diamond Authority in her own, unique way." She looked up at the gem, trying to appear as reassuring as possible."You must have _some_ special intended purpose, especially if Blue Diamond trusts you to stay in here in her temple."

Kimberlite's granite complexion was sprayed with a touch of a darker shade and she smiled bashfully. "Well, my gem is made to store biological matter from other gems. I'm supposed to be able to make really good replacement fragments so that if a gem gets cracked, they can be healed." She thrust her strangely shaped gemstone under Sapphire's nose, stooping slightly in order to brandish it effectively. "My main priority is to make Diamond pieces and I'm not very good at growing them..."

"You're only a year old," Sapphire reminded her. "You'll learn your trade as you grow. I'm sure our Diamond understands that your task is a difficult one."

Kimberlite nodded slowly and retracted her arm, stumbling slightly at the sudden change in posture.

"Are you alright?" the blue gem asked, offering one of her small, slender arms as a support crutch.

"I'm fine," Kimberlite told her with a grateful though unnecessary little genuflection, (only causing her to stumble a little more). "I have problems with balance sometimes. Our Diamond says that that's why I need to stay indoors- so that I don't accidentally crack my gem." She pouted a little, her heavy brows knitting. "Yellow Diamond says that they rushed the process when they made me and that my form is no good...that they needed me in a hurry so they pulled me out of the ground too early..." She frowned a little, shrugging. "And she also says that I was pointless in the end because I "came too late anyway." What does that even mean? _Too late anyway."_

She has no idea, Sapphire thought dolefully, her form growing heavy as a grim realisation crept over her.  
Kimberlite had no idea about the true weight of the purpose for which she was created.

"I'm sure Yellow Diamond only means to-"  
Before Sapphire could finish her sentence, a sulphur diode on the wall near them expired with a loud, resounding crack.  
It was a fairly common occurence in older sections of the temple and with so few temple attendants available for indoor work during this season, it was no wonder that some of the diodes were overheating from lack of maintenence.

Kimberlite let out a loud, almost creaturesque shriek as she recoiled, raising her hands to shield her face. Sapphire was about to simply reassure her when she found herself bounding backwards in surprise at the sight of a large, black absess appear in the reflective tiles at their feet. It seemed to wane and wax like a distant lunar body before shrinking in upon itself and vanishing as swiftly as it had arrived.

It took Sapphire longer than she would have liked to admit to realise that it was Kimberlite who had summoned the portal.  
She had seen several different futures in which something similar to this had occured but she hadn't studied any of them in great detail, supposing that none were all that likely to happen.

She had been wrong, clearly.

"That's a self-sustaining warp portal," the aristocrat said simply, only barely managing to keep a sense of ephemeral decor, straightening out the folds of her dress and adjusting her gloves.

"I'm...I'm so sorry," Kimberlite breathed, her voice a little ragged as she whipped her head around, clearly terrified that someone might have seen what had just transpired. "Th-that happens sometimes when I get a fright. My...my Pearl says that I should try n-not to do it in front of other gems...th-that gems can get in trouble for doing things that they're not supposed to..."

"Does our Diamond know that you can do this?" Sapphire asked her, placing her hand upon Kimberlite's shoulder. She allowed her hair to fall back a little, her large, blue iris settling upon both of the transfusion gem's green eyes.

Kimberlite shook her head and the diplomat went on: "It's ok...don't be scared. Some gems have little quirks that form naturally. They're not always part of their designs but they happen." She smiled again, trying to keep the gem beneath her fingertips as calm as possible. "Yours is actually quite interesting. If you were to make two of them, you could make the two portals interactive..."

"Have you ever seen a gem with this...uh...quirk before?"

"Once or twice."

"Do _you_ have a quirk?"

Sapphire's mind briefly flitted back to the first time she'd ever accidentally frozen a door-key-pad, the fibreglass beneath her fingers turning to a hoary frost.  
"...yes."

"...is it true that I shouldn't show it to other gems?"

Sapphire retracted her hand, standing up straight once more and aiding Kimberlite in the process of getting to her feet. "Yes, that is true. Your Pearl is correct. Such things are better kept a secret, even from our Diamond."

Kimberlite still looked apprehensive, her mouth wobbling violently, practically turning lopsided as she anxiously nibbled at her lip. "Ok."

"I find that keeping a grip on your emotions often helps keeping it a secret too."

"...yeah?"

"Yes," Sapphire reached out and patted her arm delicately. "Don't agonise, Kimberlite. I can tell that you're a clever gem. You'll have this all in check soon."

Kimberlite stared at her for a moment and her face suddenly broke into a wide, delighted smile. "Thank you Sapphire!" She bowed low. "Your kindness makes you a credit to all gems of your rank."

The aristocrat couldn't help but smile in return, happy to have offered her some kind of comfort, (uncertain as it was). "You're welcome, Kimberlite. I'm sure you are too."

They only walked for a little longer, making light conversation- mostly to do with the Eclipse Congregation.  
It was strange, Sapphire had to note, that she had been so eager to avoid the same social situations and events that Kimberlite wouldn't have been able to attend had she wanted to.

It wasn't long before a Pearl's worried cry started to pierce the temple's ambience and Kimberlite was escorted away.  
Sapphire decided that she probably wasn't going to forget the sight of those nervous, green eyes glancing over a broad but unsteady shoulder.

Over five thousand years later, she proved that fact to herself.

* * *

 **Know No Evil (Outside the Barn, Earth, Present Day)**

"I already know what you need from us."

"Oh...with your future vision?"

"And a little educated guessing, yes."

"Can you help me then? If you just took my Peridot and I to the kindergarten, we could..."

"You're certain that no one on Homeworld has any idea that you're here? No one at all?"

"...yes. Fairly certain."

"Fairly isn't too reassuring. Is there any way that you could covertly check?"

"I could ask Peridot about it."

"...ok, you can do that. Then, we'll see about getting you the equipment that you need. One way or another, we need to get you back to Homeworld. First of all though, I think it's time you spoke properly to the rest of group here. You gave them all quite a scare."

" _I_ scared _them_?"

"I believe so."

"...alright then. I will offer my full apologies."

"Very good. Now, then, let's head over so-"

"Sapphire?"

"Yes?"

"If I may be so bold...you and the Ruby...you were..."

"Fused? Yes. We were."

"...and is that commo-?"

"Yes. For quite a while now."

"...why did y-?"

"I fell in love," Sapphire replied simply, smiling at Kimberlite over her shoulder as she got to her feet. " Surprising, right? I know it might be a little hard for you to understand but please try to. You're a clever gem. I wasn't wrong about that."

The blue gem gave her long time lover a distant thumbs-up, indicating that it was safe to stop the others from roaming around outside the barn.  
If she had turned her head even slightly at that moment, it might have been Sapphire who would have been surprised to see Kimberlite smile bashfully at the ground and mutter:

"It's not as hard to understand as I thought it would be."

* * *

 **Speak No Evil (Outside The Big Doughnut, Earth, Present Day)**

Sadie looked up at the waxy blue sky, watching as a trail of white, flaxen clouds drifted over The Big Doughnut. For a second, it looked as though one of their cotton-like tails might catch upon the rooftop, ensnaring them, trapping them and grounding them.  
Luckily for those wayfaring strips of cirrus, the wind seemed to keep them sailing smoothly.

Sadie let out a long breath, pressing her shoulders against the concrete at her back and trying to enjoy the rare break that she had been afforded. Her eyes darted down to her phone.  
The screen remained blank.  
No message from Steven.

"Not yet," she told herself under her breath.  
It wasn't particularly hot outside but the heat was still killing all the same.

She heard the back-door open and close, heralding Lars' inevitable decision to take his break earlier than initially scheduled.  
Letting out an irked sigh and not even wanting to bother with one of their usual one-sided confrontations, she adjusted her coat and made a motion to head back inside.

"So what...you're like a lesbian or something now?"

Sadie was instantly jerked form her state of apathy as she rounded on her co-worker, his half-muttered comment having struck her like a slap in the face.

"What?"

"You want to take a chick to the Beach Ball," Lars stated pointedly, narrowing his eyes slightly at her. "Dating another chick makes you a lesbian. By definition."

Fury bit at the back of Sadie's throat.  
There was something about his dull, presumptive drawl that made her scream at the top of her lungs.

Instead, she simply sucked in a well-practised breath of air between her teeth and responded sharply: "Why are you suddenly interested in my romantic pursuits? Don't worry, I'm not going to ask Jenny or Kiki out." She pushed the back-door open with a lot more force than she had initially intended, sourly adding: "And so what? Why does it matter to you who I take to the Beach Ball?"

"It doesn't!" came Lars' muffled shout as Sadie stormed inside, closing the door shut behind her.

* * *

 **Please, Speak no Evil (Security Sector in Blue Diamond's Temple, Homeworld, Present Day)**

The Bumblebee Jasper frowned, her golden brow starting to furrow to extremes at the sound of a loud squawking in the corridor outside the room.  
This was the part of the day that she dreaded the most.  
And it was _very_ difficult to make a Jasper- Bumblebee, Ocean, Biggs, Red or otherwise- feel dread of any kind.

"Sanitation inspection!" the Pyrite shouted, hammering her knuckles upon the doorway.

"Enter," Jasper confirmed gruffly, standing up and deactivating the door-lock, only barely biting back the urge to add: _"At your own star-damn risk."_

The Pyrite stepped inside the room momentarily, wrinkling her nose as she scanned her surroundings. "Ugh...this room is in a droll state. This simply will not do. Especially not considering our current state of celebration."

"Are that many gems really going to be coming in here as part of the Congregation? It's a _covert_ security location." Jasper snorted as she turned around in her seat at the control desk. "I doubt our Diamond is going to squeeze her way in here to say hello..."

The Pyrite ignored the Jasper's remark, simply lifting her holo-board and tapping a few keys. "I'll have a Pearl sent up immediately. You may return to your duties."

Jasper made a violent gesture at the Pyrite's turned back before turning back to her control desk, a sudden warmth washing over her temples and spreading to her clawed fingertips.

Considering that Kimberlite was now tucked up and locked away for the festivities, the only available Pearl in the place had to be her lavender-tinted favourite.  
 _Her_ Pearl.

She smirked to herself, still highly amused at the fact that that she was technically a Jasper with a Pearl...even if their relationship was far from what the traditional officer/servant relationship was or would ever be expected to be.

Sometimes when she reflected on their situation, she was struck by an immediate sense of fear and uncertainty and while another gem in her position might have been intimidated by such a sensation, Jasper _lived_ for it.  
It was so long since she'd seen a real situation of combat.  
It had been aeons since she'd had any real excitement or been in any situation that got her mind racing while testing her physical form to her limits.

She and Pearl's illicit fun provided her with the excitement fix that she knew that she craved.  
As well as a strange kind of comfort that she hadn't been aware that she craved just as strongly.

"I hope I'm not disturbing you."

Her light, polite, pretty voice sounded out from the doorway, immediately drawing Jasper's ears from the dull, monotonous hum of the control panel.  
It had to be a talent, the soldier decided, to manage to make one's voice sound so mannerly while at the same time, so sultry.

The officer shifted in her seat, looking over her shoulder to regard the servant who stood daintily in the doorway.  
Her long, slender arms were politely clasped behind her back, obediently waiting for Jasper's response.

"Not at all," she told her, slowly turning back to the monitor, making sure to lean against the far-arm of the chair, applying the slightest of pressure as she did. This ensured that each of her muscles, from the wrist to the shoulder, would flex to perfection. "Just be quick."  
She just barely managed to conceal an amused smirk from the servant as she added. "I still have a lot of work to deal with and I've had a long day of training."

Her light limbed silhouette served as the perfect interuption to the already faint blue glow that illuminated the corridor outside the surveillance room.  
Jasper hadn't realised how dark it had actually gotten until the very welcome distraction.

"Of course, officer," the light purple Pearl crooned. "I won't take long at all."

Jasper could hear the soft hiss of her gossamer skirt as it dragged along the floor, each graceful foot-fall rhythmic and precise as she made her way into the small room.

"Close the door behind yourself," Jasper told her sharply and suddenly, using a voice she hadn't used when addressing the serving class gem for quite a while.

"Of course, _officer_ ," she repeated, her voice still sounding like a song as she followed the instruction. The emphasis on her formal title hadn't gone unnoticed.  
Flattery was talent gifted to all Pearls.  
Hers had it down to a fine art.

Unseen to Jasper, Pearl was now barely concealing a smirk of her own. "Have you had a very stressful day?"

"Nothing I couldn't handle," the quartz responded, trying to sound dismissive but becoming very interested in the Pearl's shadow as she commenced her usual cleaning routine. "And how's our Kimberlite doing today?"

"She's fine. Her usual, oblivious, happy, little self."

"That's good. No more damn wandering around where she shouldn't be?"  
Her eyes flicked into her peripheral vision, watching as Pearl absent-mindedly polished the equipment shelving.

"No. It's a relief to see her staying put for once. I actually haven't heard a peep out of her all day."

Jasper deliberately stretched in her seat, letting out a groan and lifting her arms.  
At any angle, her golden, striped arms would catch the slivers of light trickling in from the doorframe, accentuating her crafted muscles.  
Her thick, black stripes only serving to further emphasise the physique that she carried with pride.

In her peripheral vision, she saw Pearl stop in her tracks, obviously staring.

Jasper's well concealed grin became a wide one as she whipped around suddenly, catching the servant in the act and causing her to jump slightly. The soft lavender palette of her cheeks was suddenly caught in a spray of violet, her body turning rigid as she dropped her gaze.

"What are you looking at, Pearl? Do you see something that you like?" She raised her eyebrows. "Why are you shaking?"

She blinked, clasping her hands in front of her in what Jasper was starting to think was the court-gem equivalent of standing at attention. "Well, it's quite cold outside. I think I'm still adjusting to the temperature indoors. It's...it's stifling in here."

"Mm...we can't have you shaking like that whilst you're cleaning the equipment. You might break something. Maybe take a little break while you adust yourself?"

Pearl lifted a hand to her mouth, partly surprised but subtly mocking, her hand obscuring the spectre of a smile across her lips.  
"You would...allow that?"

Their games were necessary.  
Their roleplay was essential.

Jasper leaned back in her seat, resting her broad chin upon her hand. "I suppose I can. You haven't given me any reason to deny you that so far."

"My Jasper is _so_ gracious to me."

"Indeed, I am."

The two of them briefly gave into peals of laughter, unable to restrain their giddiness.  
Pearl leaned forward to look at the monitors, her face going from bashful to enraptured. "Oh, wow, you can see the entire temple on these. Well, aside from our little hideaway corridor here..."

"Our Kimberlite's room is on a seperate system. Here, look. I only need to bring it up when you're not around her..."

Pearl leaned forward on the console for a moment, completely still, before looking back at Jasper with lidded eyes and a coy smile. "Do you ever watch Kimberlite and I from here? We must be so boring. _Especially_ me. Ah!"

Suddenly the warm weight of Jasper's huge body was over hers, her huge arms dwarfing Pearl's slender form.  
"The real thing is pretty interesting though." Her plump lips lowered to Pearl's ear, whispering. "Do you want to sit on my lap to take a better look at the monitors?"

Pearl shuddered slightly before nodding and allowing herself to be guided backwards until she was gently perched in the Jasper's arms.

"Feeling warmer?" the officer asked her, gently tapping the lilac pearl-stone set high into the servant's collar bone.

"I'm getting there," Pearl replied, boldly curving her head into the crook of Jasper's neck and softly brushing her lips upon the quartz gem where it sat in her throat. "I can't see the monitors very well any more though."

Strong arms lifted wrapped around her much smaller torso.  
"Well, isn't that unfortunate?"

"It could be worse, I suppose," Pearl replied with a sly smile before lifting her head to close the gap between their lips.

Their bliss, unfortunately, was incredibly short lived when a voice sounded out from the doorway.

 **"Well,** _ **there's**_ **something that you don't see everyday..."**

* * *

 _Thank you so, so much!  
Hope you enjoyed. _


End file.
